KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tributes to honor Pope Francis are ongoing around the world, and Rockhurst University students and the surrounding community came together on Thursday to pay homage to the late pontiff.
Tears were shed during a mass for Pope Francis at Mabee Chapel on Rockhurst's campus.
"Even though we are sad that we have lost a very loving and a very good shepherd, I think what Francis might be reminding us today, though, is that he's still very much with us," said Fr. Stephen Hess.
Francis was the first Jesuit pope and because Rockhurst is a Jesuit university, Hess says his leadership was felt on campus.
"His legacy will live on in terms of how we're committed to educating the whole student who can go out into the world and make it a better place," Hess said.
Sophomore Aidan Cutter is one of those students.
"His simplicity and humility will always live on in all of us, and I'm forever grateful for everything Pope Francis has done for me and for this world," Cutter said.
Cutter, who was raised catholic in southern Illinois, said that because of the scrutiny the Catholic Church has faced over the years, his peers as an adolescent often challenged his faith.
"For me, Pope Francis was always someone I could point to and say, 'This is what it means to be a Catholic,'" he said.
Cutter plans to carry on the legacy of Pope Francis on the Rockhurst campus and into the world.
"I want to be more simplistic with what I have," he said. "Pope Francis was really, really good about being simple with his materialistic things."
Cutter said he also wants the Catholic Church to continue on the legacy the pontiff left behind. He said he's excited to see the process of the conclave.
“There’s a lot of world leaders out there that are pushing hateful narratives, that are pushing these very greedy narratives, and I think the Catholic Church has an opportunity here to elect another man, another pope like Pope Francis to kind of challenge a lot of these greedy, materialistic leaders, and I think the Catholic Church has an obligation to do that," he said.
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KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
