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| I met Pope Francis in October 2019 and gave him copies of my books My Peace I Give You and Remembering God's Mercy in Italian and Spanish translations. |
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| In 2023, Pope Francis thanked me for the copy I sent him of my biography of his fellow Jesuit Father Edward Dowling, SJ. He included prayer cards with novenas to St. Joseph and St. Thérèse of Lisieux. |
I am grateful for the life of Pope Francis, for his papacy, his deep faith, his inspiration, and his great love for every human being. When I met him in 2019 and struggled to speak in broken Spanish, he grasped my hand, looked me in the eyes, and said warmly in English, "Pray for me, I pray for you!"
"Always!" I exclaimed.
On the day of Pope Francis's election, I wrote that he would be the "Pope of Divine Mercy." Later on, I wrote a book, Remembering God's Mercy, on his spirituality for healing from trauma. At the start of chapter 1, which you can read online, I describe how, when he was a seminarian, a near-death experience led him to a new understanding of how Jesus meets us in our pain.
More recently, I praised how Francis brought the world together to pray at the darkest hour of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please join me in praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for those participating in the papal conclave, so that the new pope too will radiate the light of Christ to the world as Francis did during the time he was with us.
