President Higgins pays warm tribute to Pope Francis on his passing

President Michael D. Higgins has paid to tribute to Pope Francis, whose death has been announced.

Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died at 7.35 this morning.

He was 88 and had been recovering from a serious bout of double pneumonia.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 2013.

He made a notable visit to Knock Shrine on August 26, 2018, an occasion many will fondly remember. He had flown into Ireland West Airport Knock from Dublin, where he had been attending the World Meeting of Families.

In his tribute, President Higgins stated: "Mar Uachatarán na hÉireann, as President of Ireland, may I join with all those across the world, from their different stations in life, who have expressed such profound sadness on learning of the death of Pope Francis.

"Pope Francis, in his important messages and in the presentation of his Papacy with a unique humility, sought to show in the most striking and moving of ways the extraordinary importance of the spiritual as a powerful source of global ethics in the challenges of contemporary life.

"On the vital issues of our time - such as global hunger and poverty, of climate change and justice, of the plight of migrants and indigenous peoples, of the dispossessed, of the fundamental necessity of global peace and diplomacy - Pope Francis' voice constituted a consistent invocation of a shared humanity that is represented by acknowledgement of the essential dignity of each human person.

"For example, in Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical in 2015, he called upon us all to face the urgent challenge of protecting our common home, to accept the challenge of bringing the whole human family together in cooperative search of a sustainable and integral form of living.

"These issues I had the privilege of discussing at length with Pope Francis across our five meetings over the course of his Papacy.

"Pope Francis’ last visit to Ireland was as part of the World Meeting of Families in 2018. I was pleased on that occasion to welcome Pope Francis to Áras an Uachtaráin, where we continued the discussions which we had begun upon his Installation in 2013 and in the Vatican in 2017, and subsequently continued in our further discussions there in 2021 and 2023.

" The warmth and encouragement offered by Pope Francis was greatly valued by Sabina and myself.

"During his visit to Ireland, Pope Francis spoke of the scandal of child abuse, including in the Church, and its consequences for victims and families. On such matters, and on others such as attitudes towards women and those of the LGBTQ+ community within the Church, Pope Francis sought to play a positive role.

"I recall at the end of our meetings he would say as to his work on such issues, ‘it is very difficult’, as he asked for and offered prayers. It is important that the steps he took are built upon as they constitute a source of hope in the years to come.

"In paying tribute to Pope Francis' legacy, may we all reflect on the ethical approach that is necessary to tackle the many vital issues, including the serious danger of what he termed ‘the globalisation of indifference’, to which he drew the attention of office holders and their publics.

"There was a warmth to Pope Francis and an abolition of any distance between himself and those with whom he was engaged. In reflecting on his Papacy, I think of Pope Francis' own words in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti with regard to Francis of Assisi, after whom he chose his name:

“Francis felt himself a brother to the sun, the sea and the wind, yet he knew that he was even closer to those of his own flesh. Wherever he went, he sowed seeds of peace and walked alongside the poor, the abandoned, the infirm and the outcast, the least of his brothers and sisters.

"May I express my deepest sympathies to the Apostolic Nuncio, to Archbishop Eamon Martin and all Religious in Ireland, to members of the Catholic faith throughout Ireland and across the world, to all those who will particularly feel his loss in his native Argentina and across South and Central America, and to all those of all faiths and none who were so inspired by his life and work.”

A tribute on the Facebook page of Knock Shrine stated: "It is with profound sadness that we heard this morning of the passing of His Holiness, Pope Francis.

"It was a great honour for us to welcome him to Knock Shrine in 2018. When he sat in silent prayer in the Apparition Chapel, the hushed reverence that descended on the large crowd who had gathered for the occasion, was a special moment in the history of the Shrine.

"When Pope Francis elevated the status of Knock Shrine in 2021, he emphasised that “the elevation of the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock to an International Sanctuary of Special Eucharistic and Marian Devotion is a great responsibility. You accept to always have your arms wide open as a sign of welcome to every pilgrim who may arrive from any part of the world, asking nothing in return but only recognizing him as a brother or a sister who desires to share the same experience of fraternal prayer.”

"We thank God and Our Lady for the life and legacy of Pope Francis and we will pray for the happy repose of his soul at all of our daily Masses.

"May his gentle soul rest in peace."