‘He simply cared about people’: Wisconsin Catholics react to the death of Pope Francis 

Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob met Pope Francis in 2022 when Grob was training to be a bishop.

Grob, along with 170 other bishops at the time, shook Francis’ hand and shared a few words with him. Even though the meeting didn’t last long, Grob said the encounter was “a gift.”

“In standing with him in that moment, I felt like I was the only person standing in that room,” Grob said. “He [Pope Francis] wasn’t looking over my shoulder. … He was fixed on the person that was standing in front of him, and that’s his legacy because that translated into everything else he did.” 

Pope Francis died Monday at the age of 88. 

Catholics across Wisconsin remembered Francis — the first Latin American pope and first Jesuit pope — as a compassionate leader who had a heart for people on the margins of society. 

“There was a humanity about Pope Francis that you couldn’t help but love because he simply cared about people,” Grob said. “That’s one of the things that’ll be the hallmark of his pontificate.” 

Bishop Donald Hying of the Diocese of Madison said even though he knew Francis was ill, his death still came as a shock.

“Pope Francis had the heart of a pastor,” Hying said. “He wanted to reach out to the world and invite them to really know the love of God.” 

The bells at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in downtown Milwaukee tolled 88 times in honor of Francis’ life Monday afternoon. A black drape covered the front entrance of the cathedral. 

Two miles away, a special Mass was held at Marquette University. Father John Thiede, who is also the vice president for mission and ministry at the university, said celebrating Mass was a way to honor Francis’ life.

“Part of it was just to come together as a community, realizing that some are really feeling the loss today,” Thiede said.

While speaking to about 25 people, Thiede said Francis was a pope who had a “great sense of mercy.” 

“He was always very light tempered … very slow to anger, and he had a great sense of humor,” Thiede said. “We also know, combined with that, he had a great love for the church, and he had a great love for all of us.”  

Maria Casey, a Marquette University alumna, attended the Mass. She had the chance to see Francis in person in 2016 during World Youth Day, a Catholic Church event. 

“I saw him as a very important figure in — particularly in these very divisive political times — as someone bringing that example of servant leadership and humility and what it means to really be a leader for his people and for his flock,” Casey said.

“I think he embodied that sense of the church should be … like a field hospital for the sinner and a place to seek mercy,” she said.

Casey said she has some “uncertainty” about Francis’ successor.

“We’ll certainly miss his leadership, particularly on the world stage,” she said.

Kate Junk, a mathematics specialist at Marquette, also attended the mass. She said Francis’ compassion is what she’ll remember most.

“He really had a heart for the people on the margins,” Junk said.

During a press conference Monday morning, Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay said he also had the chance to meet with Francis in 2019 along with other bishops. 

“He was really intelligent. But he had a practical intelligence, too,” Ricken said. “It was really good to see a pastor in action like that.”

A statement from the Diocese of La Crosse said Francis offered the world “a profound witness of humility, joy and mercy.”

“From the moment he stepped onto the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica in 2013, he invited us not only to believe in God’s closeness, but to embody it: to accompany the poor, to care for creation, to encounter others without fear and to walk as a Church that listens,” the statement said. “His papacy will be remembered for its pastoral heart and unwavering call to go to the margins.”

There are 1.1 million Catholics in five dioceses in Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.

Gov. Tony Evers ordered flags to be flown at half staff Monday.

“Pope Francis was not only an inspirational spiritual leader, but a champion for the environment, peace, the pursuit of unity through common ground, treating people with dignity, reducing poverty and greed, and shared responsibility through community,” Evers wrote in a statement.