OLDS — Members of St. Stephen’s Parish said their goodbyes to Pope Francis and a former parish priest with a special mass on Friday, April 25.
“We just celebrated a mass today in loving memory of Pope Francis as well as my predecessor here. Fr. Les Drewicki, passed away and his funeral was yesterday,” Father Nilo Macapinlac said during an interview with the Albertan. The parish includes chuches in Didsbury and Sundre.
Pope Francis, 88, the spiritual leader of the world’s approximately one billion Catholics, passed away April 21 after lengthy battles with various health issues. He was laid to rest after a funeral service April 26.
He served as pope – the first Jesuit one and the first from Latin America – for 12 years.
“We mourn for his passing because he was our leader,” Macapinlac said.
A conclave, during which the Catholic Church’s college of cardinals will elect a successor, is expected to begin between May 6-11.
“We pray, we fast, we ask the Holy Spirit to guide the church (in the selection of a new pope),” Macapinlac said, adding that the new pontiff will have the opportunity to be a source of unity among Christians.
Francis was known to have a soft spot for the poor and downtrodden, including the LGBTQ+ community.
“He took the name Francis, Francis of Assisi, because he’s the patron saint for the poor and he’s the patron saint of ecology and tourism,” Macapinlac said.
“He’s like another Christ. He’s down to earth and in communion with nature.
“That’s why they are embracing first beatitudes, ‘blessed are the poor in spirit’ so in order that they will be like Christ. he lived by his name and by his example.”
Macapinlac got a chance to see Pope Francis – not in person, but from afar -- when he travelled to Maskwacis on July 25, 2022 and delivered an apology for the Catholic church's role in the residential school system. Macapinlac was a priest in that community from 2013 to 2019.
“He said the church is a home of mercy and compassion and love for all people,” Macapinlac said.
