Parishioners Wednesday gathered at the Cathedral of St. John of the Evangelist in Boise Wednesday to mourn the passing of Pope Francis on Monday.
The Boise memorial, and others across the state, coincided with remembrances at the Vatican.
Bishop Peter Christensen led the ceremony, reminding attendees of the Pope’s legacy.
“The church is to be a field hospital, one that asks all of us to go out into the battlefields of life, and there bring a remedy of healing to those wounded and left dying by the harm done by the lack of charity in this world,” Christensen said to the cathedral’s packed pews.
“Pope Francis was a shepherd of God's people, seen in his attention to those living on the margins of life, those not recognized by a consumer, a materialistic or solely political focus.,” he added.
The Bishop remembered meeting him while on a trip with other priests from the region in 2020.
“He asked, do you know what I see as the greatest, one of the greatest evils in the world?” Christensen recounted. “I thought, well, I can kind of imagine a guess. It's going to be about economic injustices. Caring for those who have been marginalized, immigrations, the environment.”
But the pope’s answer surprised him. “He said, ‘what I see is the greatest evil in the world is the transgender movement. He said that the transgender ideology is very different from people who deal with same sex attraction,” the Bishop said, adding the pope described it as going against God’s creation.
Carole Worth came from Nampa to attend the service.
“He was so compassionate,” she said.“You felt like he was a family member, that if you saw him on the street, he would smile at you and say hi.
She came to thank him for his service to the church. The news of his passing was sad, but she felt hopeful for what comes next.
“We have popes that come and pass, and then we get new ones. And I have faith that hope is on the horizon,” she added.
Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, will be buried on Saturday in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary’s Major. Following a nine day mourning period, cardinals under the age of 80 will then convene at the Sistine Chapel to start the process of choosing the new pope.
