ALLOUEZ (NBC 26) — Green Bay Bishop David Ricken remembers meeting Pope Francis in person. Other Catholic leaders recall the Pontiff's impact throughout his time at the Vatican.
- Pope Francis died Easter Monday at 88 years old.
- Bishop David Ricken once asked him in person about new evangelization and discipleship, the Pontiff told him to take it one step at a time.
- Ricken says he has taken Pope Francis' advice with him throughout his time serving Green Bay.
- Ricken says the church will eventually observe nine days of prayer to mourn the Pope's deat.h
(The following is a transcription of the broadcast story with additional details for the web.)
The day after Easter, the Catholic church announced Pope Francis's death. I'm Pari Apostolakos here at the Diocese of Green Bay, where Green Bay Bishop David Ricken remembers what it was like to meet the Pope and shares how he changed the church right here in Wisconsin.
Watch Pari Apostolakos' full broadcast story below:
Bishop David Ricken says he once had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis in person.
"He had a way of looking at you, he'd gaze at you. It wasn't a gaze of judgment, it was just a gaze of beholding, of, you know, mercy," Bishop Ricken said. "It was just a beautiful, one-on-one with him was, even in a group, you felt like you were the only person in the room."
With the pope's reputation as a disrupter in the church, Ricken says it was sometimes difficult even for him to understand Francis' messages.
"He told the young people, 'Go in your church, your parish, your diocese and make a mess,'" Ricken said. "I said, 'What is he talking about? Make a mess?' Well, now we kind of know that was his way of building change. 'Make a mess' means pay attention, there are people here you're forgetting about. Or there's something here that needs to change."
Abbot Dane Radecki of St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere released a statement after the Pontiff's death.
It reads in part, "Pope Francis modeled for the entire world how to live simply and serve the poor. He gave voice to the voiceless and lived for the disenfranchised. The world has lost a peacemaker and man of mercy."
Father Anthony Stephens, C.P.M., the Rector at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in New Franken, says he was relieved to hear the pope was no longer suffering after weeks of health struggles, including hospitalization for pneumonia in both lungs.
I asked Father Stephens what he has tried to implement in his parish from the Pope's example.
"The church is not a hotel for saints, it's a hospital for sinners," Stephens said. "But that links in to what the Holy Father was talking about in really encouraging priests and bishops to really go out, sometimes out of their comfort zones ... And just meeting people where they're at."
Bishop Ricken asks the faithful at home to pray for Pope Francis' soul with gratitude. Father Stephens also asks people to pray for the Pope's soul, and to pray for the Cardinals as they prepare to elect the next Pope.
