Francis

Photos and Memories

As you may already have heard, Pope Francis passed away at around 2am EST this morning, Easter Monday.

There’s already plenty out there about the Pope’s life and death and the future of the Church out there. And in the coming days I’ll no doubt be posting my own fair share. (I highly recommend America, National Catholic Reporter, and Religion News Service for coverage of Francis and the church over the next couple weeks.)

But one of the things that made this pope so special is that somehow he had a way about him that allowed people around the world to feel as though they had their own personal relationships with him, even though most of us never got to see him up close or meet him.

And so it strikes me that a good place to start today is not with the news accounts, which for now are all kind of saying the same things about his life and accomplishments, but with our own images and stories of Francis. Who was he to you?

Over the years one of the ways I’ve most connected emotionally with Francis is through photographs. Here are some of my favorites.

Francis had such a ready capacity to simply show love.

I love this one so much.

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Some of my favorite shots of Francis over the years have been of people waiting to see him, or people reacting to him.

He had a great ability to shine a light on the beauty of others.

These two get me every time.

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During the year of Mercy, Francis came to St. Peter’s to hear confessions, and then threw his handlers where his first move was to go and confess himself. I’m not sure most of us had ever seen a pope going to confession.

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This child was of a number of kids who made international news after he wandered around the sanctuary during a papal Mass.

What seemed to blow people away was that Francis and his handlers simply allowed the children to be.

I think it captured for people something kind of essential and unique about Francis: He didn’t feel the need to wrap himself in seriousness or some kind of false sanctity. He was someone who first and foremost delighted in people.

And they in him.

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So many photos of Francis involve people reaching out to him, or him to them.

This one is my favorite. I think it captures who Francis was and what he thought the church should be —Always reaching out, always caring, without reservation.

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I was going to end with that one, but I keep coming back to this.

It’s the look on his face that gets me, the emotion.

A lot will be reported in the coming days about what Francis did and what he “meant.” But underneath it all, I think he was a man who was so grateful for the chance God gave him to love.

More to come…

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