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April 24, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – In a recent Global Sisters Report article, Catholic Sisters from throughout the United States paid tribute to Pope Francis in response to his death on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88. He was remembered fondly for the inspiration and example he gave in reaching out to people who are marginalized, including immigrants; his support of women, and particularly of women religious; his call for care for Earth in his encyclical, Laudato Si’; his initiative to bring the Catholic Church together through the Synod on Synodality; and his efforts to bring about peace and justice.

Near the middle of the article, Adrian Dominican Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, Dominican Leadership Conference representative to the United Nations, said she was inspired by Laudato Si’ and by the pope’s commitment to protecting the planet. “I am terribly grateful for him and his vision,” she said in the article.

Read the entire article by Dan Stockman and Chris Herlinger.  

Another Global Sisters Report article by Dan Stockman and Chris Herlinger quotes the statement by the General Council in response to the death of Pope Francis.

Sister Donna Markham, OP, former Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, met Pope Francis during his September 2015 visit to the United States when she was President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA. She accompanied him during his visit to a Catholic Charities soup kitchen in Washington, D.C., where he had lunch with the soup kitchen guests who were experiencing homelessness. 

The next day, Sister Donna had a private audience with Pope Francis in a local home. In an article published in the April 23, 2025, issue of The Daily Telegram, a newspaper serving Adrian and Lenawee County, she recalled noting tears in the eyes of other people who had just met privately with him. 

“I remember thinking that he represented absolute goodness and compassion,” Sister Donna was quoted as saying in the Telegram article. “And there was a certain genuineness about him, like I was the only person in the world for those few minutes that I was able to talk with him.”

Read the entire article by David Panian here. Please note that a subscription is required to read the article.

 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Donna Markham, OP, then President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, greets Pope Francis in a private meeting during the pope’s 2015 visit to the United States.

April 21, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – On behalf of Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates, the Congregation’s General Council issued the following statement in response to the death of Pope Francis.
 
We awakened this Easter Monday to the sorrowful news that our beloved Pope Francis, 88, has died.
 
Irish American Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo or acting head, somberly announced: “Dearest brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”  
 
In his 12-year papacy, Pope Francis made consequential changes to our Church and world for which we will always be grateful. Among these, he called us into a culture of encuentro with one another, into an integral ecology for the common good of God’s people and our Earth home, and into being a Synodal Church – inclusive, listening, and in communion on mission. In powerful word, gesture and deed, he reached out with great compassion to the desperate, destitute and marginalized, cried out for an end to the horror of war and for joyfully embracing migrants in welcome.
 
We hold Pope Francis in prayer as he enters new life in God’s loving embrace. We also pray for our Church and world as we mourn the loss of this loving, impactful global leader – that we may carry forward his historic legacy.
 

Photo credit: "File:Farewell to Pope Francis in the Galeão Air Force Base.jpg" by Tania Rego/ABr is licensed under CC BY 3.0.