People will be able to join in prayer in the city following the news
People will be able to join in prayer in the city following the news
A special mass will be held in Liverpool following the death of Pope Francis.
The Vatican announced today that Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, has died at the age of 88. He had been unwell for some time and had been in hospital in recent weeks.
Tributes from world leaders are flooding in The Pope, with his death setting in motion a centuries-old process to elect the new leader of the church.
Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral today announced that it will hold a special mass tomorrow evening (Tuesday April 22) for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, where people can come and pay their respects and pray.
The city’s Catholic cathedral has also opened a book of condolence for anyone who wishes to leave a message or prayer.
One of the final acts the Pope carried out during his 12 year tenure as the head of the Catholic Church was to appoint Bishop John Sherrington as the new Archbishop of Liverpool. The Archbishop-elect will become the tenth Archbishop of Liverpool in succession to Archbishop Malcolm McMahon during an installation at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King on May 27.
Following the announcement that he would be stepping down, Archbishop McMahon said he was “grateful to God and to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for appointing a bishop to serve this local church, the Archdiocese of Liverpool”.
The Archbishop published the following statement this morning: “Brothers and sisters. It is with a sense of deep sadness with thanksgiving to God for a life lived in the Lord’s service, that we have learned today of the death of our Holy Father Pope Francis.
“From the first moments of his pontificate, as a bishop from the peripheries on March 13 2013, he has impacted the minds and hearts of many in the world seeking that we should all be ‘fratelli tutti’ – brothers and sisters together, in this our common home.
“The Catholic Church has lost its universal Pastor, and so today we pray for his eternal rest, we thank God for the much good he has done, and we pray for the Cardinals as they move to elect another successor of Saint Peter to continue to guide and lead the Church in 2025.
“I have many fond memories of meeting him, most recently in January at the first general audience of the Jubilee Year. I will remember him as a kind and welcoming priest and bishop.
“Francis asked everyone who met him to never to forget to pray for him – let us assure him of our prayers that he would finally meet the good shepherd and gentle judge he so zealously served.”
Pope Francis was the first non-European Pope in centuries and while he never stopped introducing groundbreaking reforms to the Catholic Church, he remained popular among traditionalists as well.
He was the first Pope from the Southern Hemisphere and previously served as Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina.
