Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore joined over 250,000 pilgrims in Rome to honor and pray for Pope Francis, whose funeral Mass was celebrated in St. Peter’s Square on April 26.
Pope Francis died on April 21 at age 88 in his Vatican residence at Casa Santa Marta. He had made his last public appearance the day before, Easter Sunday, to deliver his Urbi et Orbi message from the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square. Greeting the thousands gathered at the square with “Buona Pasqua!” (Happy Easter!), the pope asked Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, to read his Easter message aloud.
“Christ is risen! These words capture the whole meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death but for life,” the Holy Father proclaimed in his final words to the world. “Easter is the celebration of life! God created us for life and wants the human family to rise again! In his eyes, every life is precious!”
In a statement following Pope Francis’ death on Easter Monday, Supreme Knight Kelly reflected on the pope’s witness of charity and fraternity — to the world and specifically the Knights of Columbus.
“The more than 2.1 million Knights of Columbus around the world join Catholics and people of all faiths today as we mourn the death of our Holy Father Pope Francis,” the supreme knight said. “Pope Francis [called] us from his first days as pope to reach out to the margins of society and serve those who are too often forgotten.”
“Pope Francis continually encouraged our charitable mission,” he continued. “[He] was also very supportive of our efforts to help Catholic men be better husbands and fathers and take up co-responsibility for the Church’s mission of evangelization.”
At a memorial Mass celebrated in Baltimore for Pope Francis on April 21, Archbishop Lori reflected on the pope’s departure from this world as a pilgrim of hope.
“Pope Francis declared 2025 to be an extraordinary Holy Year, a Jubilee of Hope, a time of prayer and grace to deepen our hope in Christ,” the supreme chaplain said in his homily. “He called us to be pilgrims of hope, who journey resolutely, even amid the sadness and setbacks of this world, towards the heavenly Jerusalem where Christ is seated at God’s right hand. The heart of hope is the death and resurrection of Christ. And it is in the midst of the Church’s celebration of Christ’s victory over death that Pope Francis passed from this life to the next.”
The supreme chaplain was among hundreds of concelebrating bishops and priests at the funeral Mass, where Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, presided and delivered the homily. Following the Mass, Pope Francis was laid to rest in a private ceremony within the Basilica of St. Mary Major, becoming the first pope in over three centuries to be buried outside St. Peter’s Basilica.
“It was a beautiful tribute to Pope Francis, but at the same time, it was a moment when we sought God’s mercy upon us all,” Archbishop Lori said in an interview with the Catholic Review,the official news outlet of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, after the funeral. “We pray for Pope Francis, but we also sought Pope Francis’ prayers for us. It was quite a profound and moving experience to be a part of this.”
The pope’s tomb, located in the side nave between the Sforza Chapel and the Pauline Chapel, is near the icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani before which Pope Francis frequently prayed, including before and after each of his apostolic journeys.
For more than 12 years, the Knights of Columbus drew inspiration from Pope Francis’ call for the faithful to go out to the peripheries. Speaking with EWTN on Sunday, the supreme knight reflected on his own encounters with Pope Francis and the special relationship the pontiff had with the Order.
“Pope Francis had a wonderful sense of humor, and he loved to laugh,” said Supreme Knight Kelly, who met privately with the pope five times since his election in 2021. “My first meeting with him, he said, ‘You have a wife and children, right? … Next time you meet with me, they come with you.’ … He had [a] big concern for the family.”
The Order and Pope Francis had many shared priorities, the supreme knight continued, including evangelization and support for the unborn and those in most need.
“All of this really touched Pope Francis’ heart because it was helping the vulnerable,” he said, adding that the Holy Father expressed great enthusiasm about the Knights’ efforts to form Catholic men in faith and virtue.
The supreme knight also recalled Pope Francis’ words of encouragement at the conclusion of one of their meetings: “He gave us a blessing and said, ‘Go on, keep doing what you’re doing. It’s hard, but keep it up!’”