Elmer Maximo’s brief meeting with Pope Francis ran overtime. He was told not to use more than three minutes of the Holy Father’s time for the encounter, which stretched to seven minutes.
Maximo, president of the Diocesan Commission for Catholic Filipino Ministries (DCCFM), considers that short meeting in 2019 in Rome with Pope Francis, who died on this Easter Monday at 88, to be have a “profound” impact on his faith and vocation.
“I greeted him as ‘Lolo Kiko,’ a term of endearment we Filipinos use. He smiled warmly and responded with gentle kindness. The Holy Father spoke about his message to young people on using social media responsibly. I shared my desire to become a permanent deacon. It was an unforgettable moment that continues to inspire my calling,” said Maximo, now in formation in the Paterson Diocese’s permanent diaconate.
With many other local Catholics, Maximo mourned Pope Francis’ death by a stroke and heart failure in his Vatican City apartment early Monday morning, April 21. They recalled his profound effect on the Universal Church, the diocese, and their own lives and faith. The warm-hearted pontiff was the first Latin pope, Jesuit pope, non-European pope, and pope from the Americas.
During his dynamic 12-year pontificate, the pope pushed the Church to become more inclusive of all people and promoted better care of God’s creation and the poor and marginalized. The pope also urged people to develop a personal encounter with Jesus during the Year of Hope he declared for 2025. In recent years, he also demonstrated courage and faith in serving the Church despite physical challenges.
I’m sad today, ” Maximo said on Monday. “Pope Francis embraced everybody. He was a modern pope who accepted all people’s different ways of life. He was ready to change for the better.”
In a statement on Monday, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney led the diocese in expressing grief over Pope Francis’ death and prayers for him.
“With the Christian faithful, the priests, deacons, and consecrated religious of the Diocese of Paterson, I mourn the passing of our Holy Father. We grieve, and we live in hope. Our faith in the Risen Lord sustains us,” Bishop Sweeney said. “Rooted in joyful hope, the Holy Father taught us that as the Body of Christ, our vision must always be turned outward as ambassadors of Christ. Like Peter, he strengthened us in the faith.”
Many individual Catholics shared their sorrow on social media and in interviews with news outlets, such as The Beacon. Parishes and other religious organizations offered their prayers for the pope’s soul and the process of selecting the universal Church’s next leader, while some scheduled memorial Masses.
Some faithful remembered encountering the Holy Father’s affable personal style and meaningful spiritual messages on visits to Rome, World Youth Day (WYD) gatherings, and his trips to countries around the world, including a pastoral visit to the United States to New York and Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. in 2015.
Like ordinaries worldwide, Bishop Emeritus Serratelli met Pope Francis during Ad Limina visits to Rome while leading Paterson from 2004 to 2020. The bishop has also been involved with the Vatican’s Vox Clara Commission, International Dialogue with the Baptist World Alliance, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and the International Committee on English in the Liturgy.
“With Catholics and people around the world, we join in prayer for Pope Francis who passed from this life, thank God for the good he did, and pray that he be welcomed into the Father’s house in heaven,” Bishop Serratelli said.
On social media, Father Cesar D. Jaramillo, a diocesan priest pursuing graduate studies in Rome, wrote that Pope Francis didn’t think it was a coincidence that he died on Monday, the eighth of Easter, having lived in the flesh on a Good Friday in his health condition.” He called the pope “a faithful servant whose dedication, simplicity, and humility were palpable throughout his Petrino ministry.”
Pope Francis’ presence and messages inspired countless young people and adults around the globe when he appeared, spoke, and led worship at WYD celebrations. Ezekiel Reyes, 20, of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Passaic, attended WYDs in Panama in 2019 and Portugal in 2023.
“Many popes have probably said it before, but I was struck when Pope Francis said to the youth, ‘You are the future of the Church. The Church is in your hands.’ He connected with the audience,” Reyes said. “Pope Francis tried his best to serve the Church even at the end. So now I must try my best so the future is bright.”
Reacting to Pope Francis’ death, John Cammarata, diocesan youth ministry director, told The Beacon, “On behalf of all the youth ministers, we give thanks for his love of young people, his joyful witness to the Gospel, and his call for us to be missionary disciples full of mercy and courage.”
Pope Francis’ influence on the universal Church’s catechists remains far-reaching, said Father Yojaneider Garcia, diocesan Office of Catechesis and Faith Formation director. In 2022, he joined catechetical leaders and catechists from more than 80 countries for the Vatican’s Third International Congress on Catechesis. There, the pope delivered an inspiring address.
“Pope Francis urged catechists to embrace their identity as witnesses of the Gospel,” Father Garcia said. “This congress rekindled in all of us the passion for catechesis as a joyful mission,” he said. The legacy of the congress continues to inspire catechists across the globe to live their ministry as a true vocation of love, service, and transformation.”
Many diocesan priests and seminarians met Pope Francis while studying in Rome. One of them was Father Krzysztof Tyszko, parochial vicar of Assumption Parish in Morristown, ordained a diocesan priest in 2023. He especially remembers meeting the pontiff before serving as a deacon for one of the papal liturgies.
“In the few seconds that I had to shake his hand and greet him, he was genuinely focused on me, with the same expression a grandparent has when a grandchild speaks to them. I don’t even remember what I said to him, with only the look on his face being committed to my memory — the kind of look that only I and what I had to say mattered to him,” Father Tyszko said.
Father Stephen Prisk, pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Pequannock and diocesan vice chancellor, met Pope Francis a few times in Rome, where he was a seminarian from 2011 to 2015 and a priest in 2016. He later met the Holy Father in 2019 as Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli’s priest secretary during the bishop’s Ad Limina visit to the Vatican.As a seminarian, Father Prisk experienced the joy of standing in St. Peter’s Square in 2013 as Pope Francis walked onto the balcony above to greet the crowd for the first time after being elected the Universal Church’s leader. He also served as a deacon for a papal Easter Vigil in 2015.
“The pope was personable when speaking to him. He taught us a lesson: have a personal encounter with Jesus and seek him in the people around us, especially those in need,” Father Prisk said.
During the summer of 2023, Sister April Hoffman, a Salesian Sister of St. John Bosco in North Haledon, saw Pope Francis’ Christian witness and determination up close despite his health issues. Studying in Rome, she met the pontiff while serving at a camp established and run by Salesian priests, brothers, and priests in Rome for children of Vatican staff. Every summer, the Holy Father visits the staff, counselors, and campers of the camp, created in accordance to his wishes.
“The Holy Father encouraged the young adults and teens not to let their faith become stagnant and grow in their relationship with Christ, us Salesians to have the same passion and zeal as Don Bosco who never tired of working for the young and to bring them to Christ, and the kids to learn from their grandparents and elders. His humility and resignation struck me in allowing himself to be wheeled in, in a wheelchair, but then his determination to walk to the last few steps to his chair where he would speak to us,” Sister Hoffman said.
Sister Hoffman continued: “I have a great love for the Holy Father and deep respect for his pastoral heart in the way that he formed relationships and made people feel comfortable with his joyful presence.”
Scott Milliken, CEO of diocesan Catholic Charities, also mourned the Holy Father’s passing.
“The world has lost a shepherd of peace, compassion, and humility. His life was a testament to the quiet strength of mercy, the power of dialogue, and the beauty of serving others, especially the poor, the forgotten, and the marginalized,” Milliken said.
Some people met Pope Francis while on vacation. Cecile Pagliarulo, diocesan digital media specialist, received his “Sposi Novelli” blessing in Rome in 2016 with her husband, Carmine, on their honeymoon in a papal audience with other newly married couples. At the time, she told him she was a reporter for The Beacon and presented him with a copy of the paper. In English, the Holy Father said to the couple “with a big smile, ‘Pray for me.'” The Vatican News photo was featured on The Beacon’s front page.
“[I’m] grateful to be part of this Church with a leader so visible, so reachable, and in Pope Francis’ case: he wanted to ‘smell like the sheep.’ He made sure he was among the people,” Pagliarulo posted on social media.
