Bishop of the Diocese of Achonry and Elphin, Bishop Kevin Doran, has paid tribute to the late Pope Francis.
The pontiff passed away yesterday at the age of 88.
The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis died from a stroke and subsequent heart failure.
Just hours before his death, he blessed Easter Sunday crowds who gathered at the Vatican for what was one of his first major appearances since a recent hospital stay for double pneumonia.
Bishop Doran described Pope Francis as a man who “carried out his ministry as Pope with courage and dignity”.
A Book of Condolences has been opened on the homepage of www.catholicbishops.ie and also on the Irish Bishops’ social media platforms of Facebook, Instagram, X and on BlueSky.
Bishop Kevin Doran stated the following:
“Dear people of Achonry and Elphin, as news breaks of the death of Pope Francis, I commend him to your prayers that God who called him to be Servant of the Servants of God, may welcome him home, now that his mission has been completed.
“Pope Francis carried out his ministry as Pope with courage and humility. People will be write volumes about his papacy in the future. For now, perhaps it is enough to say that his pastoral energy was entirely focussed on forming the Church to be the community of believers that Jesus intended it to be and calling each of us to become a “missionary disciple”. He was always ready to teach what the Church believes, but he called on Catholics to think it through rather than just accepting or rejecting it at face value. His sense of humour was very evident to those who met him.
“One of my abiding own memories of him was when I was with the other Irish Bishops at a meeting with him during our Ad Limina visit. After an hour of listening and responding to us, he got up and walked towards the other end of the room, coming back with a bottle of water and a glass, saying quietly under his breath, “the poor translator has no water”.
“May he rest in peace.”
