‘Good shepherd’: Sydneysiders pay tribute to Pope Francis at St Mary’s Cathedral
Pope Francis has been remembered as a man of the people with boundless compassion and a “good shepherd” at a mass in Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral in the wake of his death.
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Pope Francis has been remembered as a “good shepherd” by a modest crowd which congregated at St Mary’s Cathedral to pay tribute to the man who led the church for more than a decade.
As the Easter Tuesday morning mass concluded, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who was in attendance, told The Daily Telegraph people “often forget what the big stick” Catholic leaders hold actually meant.
“Francis was a good shepherd,” Mr Burke said.
The ‘Crossier’ is a symbol used in the Catholic Church for leadership and to signify the role of being shepherds of the flock.
While there is a sense of mourning surrounding Pope Francis’s death, and it falling on Easter Monday, Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher said it was “actually an inspiring” time for him to die.
“There’d be no better time for a Christian leader to die than to die at Easter,” he said.
“We know now he was dying over the last few months, and that he managed to get to Easter and give his Easter message to the world just before he died is a very beautiful thing.”
During mass, St Mary’s Cathedral Dean, Father Don Richardson, read excerpts from Pope Francis’s final message.
He declared that the church “forbids us to mourn too much at this time” and that it was his mission, like all Catholics, to proclaim “Christ has risen”.
Given his storied reputation of inclusivity and progressive values, Mark Swain said he found
Pope Francis to be “the most refreshing representation of the Catholic Church”.
“He has been an absolute breath of fresh air, (it’s) a very sad passing,” he said.
“I hope that whoever takes over from him continues the with the type of church that he developed.”
Archbishop Fisher said it may be the “most unpredictable conclave” in a long time, given Pope Francis selected cardinals from “every corner of the world (even) tiny little countries”.
“Anyone that tells you they know who’s going to be the next pope, they don’t know what they’re talking about,” he added.
Rod Valdes echoed the sentiments shared by many others in attendance on Tuesday morning, saying Pope Francis “opened the faith up to a lot of people on the outskirts”.
He said those people who usually “aren’t thought of” felt seen during his tenure.
“His love for the poor, for the natural world … his passion for refugees, for people that felt alienated from the community, everyone knew that this was a man that wanted to include them,” Archbishop Fisher said.
Churchgoers will return to the cathedral for a mass at 1.30pm.
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Originally published as ‘Good shepherd’: Sydneysiders pay tribute to Pope Francis at St Mary’s Cathedral
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