I Will Be ‘Forever Blessed’

By Beth Ann Madeline former editor of the English edition of L’Osservatore Romano Pope Francis. The Holy Father. The Pontiff. The Bishop of Rome. The leader of the Catholic Church. But for me and for many, much more than these, because his passing feels like the loss of a family member. Pope Francis had that gift. He was a leader on the world stage, yet beloved like a grandfather, a kind uncle, a dad. For me, Pope Francis was a miracle worker, with the eyes, heart and soul of a saint. Where I had become too self-absorbed to even notice, with his kind and simple demeanor, he made me stop and want to listen, to think, and to realize that somehow, somewhere, I had forgotten those simplest of lessons, the first lessons learned in childhood. The soft, humble voice of our Holy Father Francis brought those lessons back to the surface of my ...