So many mourners lined up to see Pope Francis lying in state in a simple wooden coffin inside St. Peter’s Basilica that the Vatican kept the doors open all night.
A church that dialogues is “much more interesting than a church where things fall from up high,” Jesuit Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Jesuits, said.
Growing old isn’t something to be feared, but rather something to embrace as a time of grace in one’s life, Pope Francis wrote in a preface for a book that was not released before he died.
Although overtly campaigning to be pope is discouraged and would be counterproductive, the cardinals do a lot of politicking in private prior to the conclave.
Pope Francis’ final moments were peaceful, and he managed to give one last farewell to his nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, before slipping into a coma early April 21, Vatican News reported.