Mourning the Death of His Holiness Pope Francis

WHEREAS, during the twelve years of his pontificate, as the first pontiff from the Americas, Pope Francis exercised his Petrine ministry with an admirable emphasis on serving those at the peripheries through his travels, writings, addresses and homilies, while stressing the foundational Christian virtues of charity and fraternity; and

WHEREAS, Pope Francis called Catholics to become “missionary disciples” actively engaged in evangelization by sharing the love of God in Jesus Christ and communicating the message of Jesus at all times (Evangelii Gaudium, 120); and

WHEREAS, Pope Francis stressed the integral nature of faith that includes respect for creation, reverence for all human life, rejection of a “throwaway culture” and the importance of “fraternity and social friendship” that recognizes the inherent dignity of every human person; and

WHEREAS, Pope Francis was a tireless advocate for peace among nations and within nations, seeking to fulfill his role as Pontifex Maximus (“chief bridge builder”) and exhorting all peoples to live as brothers and sisters who are created in the image of God; and

WHEREAS, Pope Francis served as a unifying figure of prayer and enduring hope in God’s providence during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly through the extraordinary Urbi et Orbi blessing and meditation, viewed remotely by millions worldwide, during which he stood in an empty, rain-swept St. Peter’s Square before the Miraculous Crucifix from the Church of St. Marcellus in Rome, and invoked the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary before the venerable image of Salus Populi Romani; and

WHEREAS, Pope Francis stood in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, offering aid and consolation and solemnly consecrating Russia, Ukraine and the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; and

WHEREAS, Pope Francis inspired and strengthened the faith of countless Knights and their families during his pastoral visits to the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Cuba, Poland, Lithuania, the Republic of Korea and France — nearly every nation in which the Order is established; and

WHEREAS, Pope Francis raised to the honors of the altar the Founder of the Knights of Columbus, Father Michael J. McGivney, approving a miracle attributed to his intercession and issuing the Apostolic Letter for his beatification ceremony on October 31, 2020, which recognized that Blessed Michael McGivney’s “zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel and generous concern for the needs of his brothers and sisters, made him an outstanding witness of Christian solidarity and fraternal assistance”; and

WHEREAS, Pope Francis received in private audience with great kindness Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori, as well as the members of the Board of Directors and their wives, and through messages to the annual Supreme Convention encouraged the entire Order in its mission of charity, unity and fraternity throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, Pope Francis repeatedly commended the Knights of Columbus to St. Joseph as an “admirable model of those manly virtues of quiet strength, integrity and fidelity which the Knights of Columbus are committed to preserving, cultivating and passing on to future generations of Catholic men,” and during the Year of St. Joseph, which he proclaimed for the entire Church, the Holy Father blessed an icon of St. Joseph chosen by Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly as his first subject for the Order’s pilgrim icon program, reflecting the consecration of his leadership of the Order to St. Joseph; and

WHEREAS, Pope Francis issued an encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Dilexit nos (“He Loves Us”) in October 2024, which providentially coincided with the pilgrim icon program of the Knights of Columbus that has brought images of the Sacred Heart to councils throughout the Order for public prayer and devotion, and in which encyclical the Pope repeatedly mentions charity, unity and fraternity as key aspects of the Sacred Heart that Jesus offers to humanity; and

WHEREAS, in the days before he peacefully returned to the house of the Father on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, Pope Francis offered his illness and suffering to God during his prolonged hospitalization, and showed the qualities of a loving father after returning to his Vatican residence, offering the traditional Easter Sunday “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, and making a surprise final ride in the Popemobile around St. Peter’s Square, where he greeted many of the thousands gathered to see him.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council, on behalf of the more than 2.1 million members worldwide and their families, expresses grief and sorrow over the death of His Holiness Pope Francis; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that our Order, following the exhortations and selfless example of Pope Francis, will continue to reach out to the peripheries to serve the neediest among us; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that our Order will continue to pray for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, entrusting him to the intercession of Our Lady, St. Joseph and the most merciful Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Mourning the Death of His Holiness Pope Francis

Resolutions