APPLETON, Wis. — Father William Swichtenberg said mercy is one of the words that describes the legacy of Pope Francis.
He talked about the late Pope after Monday mass at St. Mary Parish in Appleton.
“He had this dream that we would open the doors of the church wide and just welcome everyone,” he said. “I remember at World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, where he’d get the whole crowd — tens of thousands of young people — ‘Everyone. Everyone. Everyone is welcome in the church. Todos. Todos.’”
Swichtenberg asked Pope Francis a question last spring at the International Meeting of Parish Priests for The Synod.
“His idea that the church should be a field hospital. You know, people are hurting,” he said. “Why wouldn’t we embrace them and surround them with our unconditional love and not push them away?”
Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay described Pope Francis as a disruptor of sorts.
He said the Pope challenged leadership and followers to look at things differently.
“That was challenging to me too at times. That’s what was good about him. It also made you uncomfortable at times, but he didn’t mind that and neither did I,” he said. “As I looked back and practiced it, I find often times he was right. Not always, but often times.”
Ricken also had a personal encounter with Pope Francis in 2019.
“This Pope, he showed us he’s a pastor. He showed us how to do it, ways to do it, and pointed us to the marginalized and the poor to see Christ’s presence especially in them,” he said. “When we are more with them, we recognize Christ more easily, then we can bring him to everyone else, too.”
Nadine Duncan is the director of pastoral administration at Saint Mary Parish.
“One of the things that was most inspiring to me is how people all over the world were attracted to him. I think that’s definitely a sign of the holy spirt working,” Duncan said. “People saw his goodness and how much of an impact he had on the world outside of being our shepherd, our leader.”
Swichtenberg told the congregation at mass on Monday that Pope Francis brought about change in the Catholic Church.
“I cried this morning, twice, already,” he said after mass. “And yet, to die on Easter Monday, this man who his every breath, every beat of his heart was for us. The people of God, and not just for Catholics, but for all people of God, people of goodwill.”
