1 week Ago
SPRINGFIELD — Lucy Ramos’ favorite picture of the late Pope Francis hangs on the wall of her office at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. His hand is extended and a dove appears to alight from his fingertips. The shot was captured at St.
Peter’s Square in 2013. “I don’t know if the dove came out of nowhere, but it’s my favorite one. It gives me comfort,” said Ramos, director of the diocese’s Latino ministry and one of dozens of the faithful who attended Mass at the Cathedral of St.
Michael the Archangel on Monday. The Mass was held just hours after the Vatican announced the pope’s death at 88. The pontiff’s health had been faltering for months but he still managed to make an appearance on Easter, greeting the crowd but delegating the delivery of his address to a clergy member.
His final message focused on world peace, and compassion for marginalized people. “I felt like he was a kind, spiritual, humble and simple person,” Ramos said, before she and other attendants of the Mass lifted their voices in song in the cavernous church. The pope died the morning after the holiest day in the Christian year, when the world’s 1.
4 billion Catholics celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The timing of his death was, in a way, beautiful, Ramos said. The Rev.
Yerick Mendez led the Mass, and agreed with Ramos. “Our Holy Father Pope Francis has gone over to the dead. Honestly, there can be no better time for him to die,” Mendez said.
Springfield parishioners pay their respects to the late pope on Monday, April 21, 2025 at the Mass held at St. Michael's Cathedral, day of 88-year-old Pope Francis' death. (Douglas Hook / The Republican) Douglas Hook Parishioners prayed before a portrait of the late pope surrounded by clusters of lilies and hydrangea, and the smell of an abundance of blooms wafted from the altar, set up from Sunday’s Easter Mass.
The Vatican later on Monday announced that the pope died at his residence at Casa Santa Marta, a guesthouse at the Vatican where Francis had lived since his election in 2013. Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Italian migrants in Buenos Aires in 1936, the first Latin American and member of the Jesuit order to be elected pope in the church’s 2,000-year history. He was also the first pope to call himself Francis, after St.
Francis of Assisi, known for his poverty, humility and advocacy for peace advocacy. Pope Francis opted to live in the guesthouse as opposed to the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace. George Zurito pay his respects to the late Pope Francis who died on Monday, April 21, 2025.
(Douglas Hook / The Republican) Douglas Hook Springfield parishioner George Zurito also silently followed along with prayer at St. Michael’s. He said that while he did not agree with all of Pope Francis’ social beliefs, he will still mourn his death as he was someone who helped increase his faith.
“I admired him for how good he was to the poor,” Zurito said. As if to put a fine point on the unity of Catholics at a pivotal time, Mendez bid his parishioners good day with something of a unique greeting. “I love you all,” he said from the altar.
“We love you, too,” many parishioners quickly responded. Outside Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s Church in the city’s South End, longtime Catholic devotee Salvatore “Sal” Circosta said he has never missed a weekend Mass. “Never in my life.
Except for during COVID,” said Circosta. “If you didn’t make it to Sunday Mass, you went on Saturday night.” Sal Circosta, a parishioner of Mount Carmel Church, wasn't surprised by the news of Pope Francis' passing on Monday morning.
He told The Republican that he didn't look too healthy during the Easter events he attended. Monday, April 21, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican) Douglas Hook Circosta said his phone started blowing up at 4:30 a.
m. with news of the pontiff’s death. He was unsurprised, as Pope Francis had been ill for so long.
A roofer from Agawam, Circosta speculated the Vatican may look to an African cardinal, and someone with more centrist leanings in terms of the church. “It shows the internationality of the church, which is beautiful. Also, the European Catholics evangelized to the Africans, and now Africa is expected to evangelize Europe,” Circosta said.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. more news from Western Massachusetts.
