Canadian Catholics mourn Pope Francis as compassionate leader

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Catholics in Canada remembered Pope Francis as a leader who gravitated to the weakest and most vulnerable, and who listened closely and was open to change, even if change has come slowly to the Catholic Church.

The Pope died Monday morning after spending five weeks in hospital with double pneumonia. He was released in late March and made his final public appearance in Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square, where he delivered the Easter Sunday blessing.

Some 11 million Canadians are Catholic, making it the country’s largest Christian denomination. The Pope’s 2022 visit to Canada included events in Alberta, Quebec and Iqaluit. He used the trip to deliver a historic apology for the Catholic Church’s role in the residential-school system.

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Vancouver resident Alda Munro woke early on Monday and learned of the Pope’s death from the news. She dressed and made her way to Holy Rosary Cathedral, where she sat on a bench outside and listened to the church bells toll before doors opened to parishioners.

She thought about the name Francis had chosen for himself, in honour of Francis of Assisi, the 13th-century saint known for his life of humility and poverty, and his patronage of animals.

“I knew of all the things he had done, and calling himself Francis says it all,” Ms. Munro said. “I wanted to come to some place where people felt that humanity.”

At Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica, a major tourist attraction and the city’s mother church, visitors contemplated the life of the first pontiff from the Americas.

Linda Augustine, from Australia, said a prayer for a Pope who was also an “ordinary person.”

“He was very humble,” she said. “He was a people person – his dedication to the church and the people and to God.”

For Hamilton’s Cathie Pead, there was a sense that Francis, who was 88, had died too soon.

“There’s still more that needs to be done. He was such an example of servant leadership that many leaders speak about but few achieve,” said Ms. Pead, a founding member of Concerned Lay Catholics, which helps laypeople take responsibility for their roles within the church.

To her, Francis was always serving, “a priest who never lost touch with people,” even while at the head of one of the world’s largest organizations.

Ms. Pead said the Pope had pushed change within the institution “in a way that wouldn’t tip the ship.” She pointed to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, efforts to begin addressing sexual abuse in the church and some acceptance of LGBTQ rights.

Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, the country’s leading LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, was among a group of international LGBTQ+ activists invited to the Vatican by the Pope in 2019.

Ms. Kennedy spoke about Francis’s willingness to address the global criminalization of LGBTQ people. She saw it as a significant step forward for those living in fear, given how closely people around the world listen to Vatican statements.

“He wasn’t afraid of change. It may have been gradual change, but at least he wasn’t afraid of it, and he was open to talking about it,” Ms. Kennedy said.

Still, many LGBTQ+ advocates have found progress painfully slow. In 2023, the Pope allowed priests to bless same-sex couples but upheld the Catholic Church’s strict ban on gay marriage. In 2024, the pontiff had to apologize after saying gay men should not be allowed to train for the priesthood and using a derogatory slur during a discussion with Italian bishops.

“Now I’m looking to what’s next,” Ms. Kennedy said. “Will that glimpse of progressiveness that we’ve seen under his leadership continue with the next pontiff?”

At Winnipeg’s Saint Boniface Cathedral, Sister Monica Katchang talked about her grief colliding with gratitude for how the Pope changed the Catholic Church. The missionary sister, who arrived from Nigeria eight years ago, spoke about Francis’s “love for the poor,” his pleas for others to be treated with respect and his optimism.

“He wanted everybody to continue to have hope in the midst of all that is happening in the world – all the wars, the hunger, the confusion – he still wanted to have hope that we can have a better world.”

Saint Boniface Archbishop Albert LeGatt described watching the pontiff meeting hundreds of people. “You can read people’s eyes and behind those eyes was simplicity. … And you could see that it wasn’t just a formality for him to meet all other people with respect, with a smile, with a desire to listen. It was there.”

In Toronto, flags were lowered to half-staff at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica. After the Easter Monday morning mass, some congregants remained in the pews, their heads bowed.

Cheryl D’Souza recalled her family visiting Vatican City in 2017. The Pope happened to be doing his rounds. When he passed her granddaughter, Jasmine, he planted a kiss on the baby’s head.

“It was a shock for us,” she said. “He was there yesterday, he came out, and then he gave his blessing on Easter Sunday, and then he was gone this morning.”

In downtown Halifax, mourners gathered at St. Mary’s Basilica Cathedral for Monday’s late-morning mass. A framed portrait of Francis was displayed below a towering wooden cross, alongside Easter bouquets of pink and yellow tulips.

Beverly Burke was shocked when her sister called with the news, just hours after the Pope’s Easter blessing in Rome. He had seemed happy to her, smiling. “I was thinking about all the good works he did for the Catholic Church, for Indigenous people and [clerical] sexual abuse,” Ms. Burke said.

Emmanuel Nahimana normally attends a francophone Catholic church across the bridge in Dartmouth but came to the cathedral to remember the Pope, whom he lauded as courageous for his focus on the vulnerable.

“He’s a man who was a beacon of humanity,” Mr. Nahimana said. “I think we will miss the man.”