West Michigan priest in Rome for Pope Francis' funeral
Rev. Robert Sirico, pastor emeritus of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Parish in Grand Rapids and co-founder of the Acton Institute, said he was also in Rome when Pope John Paul II died.
'I remember distinctly, they call it the translation of the body into the basilica. And in many ways it was similar. In other ways, it was very different, because remember that Francis was housed in the Casa Santa Marta, which is on the opposite side of the piazza … and so they brought the body in from that end,' Sirico recounted. 'It wasn't quite as dramatic as the translation of John Paul II, but it was very moving and very opportune that they had just finished the renovation, the restoration of the basilica for this year, which is a Jubilee Year.'
Pope Francis' funeral is set for Saturday following three days of public viewing. After the funeral, nine days of official mourning follow.
Catholic faithful pay their final respects to Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica
'There are going to be a series of masses in the coming days and, especially after he is buried, a series of meetings called congregations. And these are where all the cardinals in the world — both those that are voting in the conclave, which will be about 134 of them, but even the older cardinals will come. And they will get to know each other a little more than they do presently,' Sirico said. 'Pope Francis appointed a lot of cardinals from outside of Europe, so these are cardinals from the periphery and they haven't had a chance to get to know one another. So these nine days of prayers, masses and discussions are going to be very important before they go into conclave.'
Sirico believes those who are hoping for another leader like Pope Francis 'are going to be disappointed.'
'My intuition is that they are going to choose somebody who is going to want to let the dust settle, because this has been an exciting and turbulent pontificate in many ways, very untraditional, uncharacteristic,' he said. 'As I say, many beautiful gestures of love and acceptance of people, but in many other ways, there are a lot of questions that are left.'
Sirico said there is polarization in both the church and the world.
'What I'm hoping is that we have somebody who leads the church who can help calm some of those passions and get us really, honestly talking with one another again,' he said.
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