This moment means a lot to us as a local Church, as we mourn and come together to mark the passing on of our Holy Father, Pope Francis. Only days ago, our Holy Father went home. By the grace of God, a cross-section of our local Church gathered to celebrate Mass for the repose of his soul. We want to say thank you to all of you for showing love, for showing devotion to our Holy Father who has passed on, that we have created time, in spite of the short notice. The coming together of a cross-section of the entire Archdiocese is obviously a testament to how much we hold our Holy Father dear to our hearts. And so, we pray that the Lord God, by the powerful intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, whom we love so much, by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ shed on the Cross, will bring him to eternal life through Christ our Lord.
My encounter with Pope Francis
I had an opportunity of what you might call a personal interaction with the Pontiff when we went on a visit to Rome. The Bishops of the country visited the Holy See, and part of it was to engage with the Holy Father himself. And I noticed, I saw him as a man who is down to earth, a man who is without any airs around him, a man who speaks from his heart, and a man who just simply does what needs to be done without any ears around him. I, for instance, asked him, what you might call a personal question, how does he feel when he hears people criticise him? And he just simply says, well, he listens but he takes note of what they have said, but when he’s convinced about what he’s doing, he goes ahead with what he needs to do. So, that is the kind of man that we have had as our Pope.
• Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos
