Pope Francis, a memory

Point of view

- By DOROTHY DELGADO NOVICIO

The day Pope Francis died, my phone, perhaps like everyone else's, was swamped with messages. Shared and forwarded expressions of grief, gratitude, quotes, on the universal feeling of mourning and adoration to our Holy Father.

In our family of four, who are presently continents apart, the pope brought us together, albeit virtually at the early hours in New York. Our children felt the urgency to inform us. The hubby and I, half awake, took the news almost in disbelief, because the day before, we were discussing in awe how the wheelchair-bound pope appeared tireless doing what he loved most: visiting inmates, blessing children and uplifting the spirit of his flock. As if these were not enough, he took time to meet briefly with US Vice President JD Vance.

I couldn't keep up with the messages inundating my phone. I felt the need for solitude in order to be in solidarity with the rest of the world in grieving the loss and celebrating the life of our pope. After attending mass at our parish, I soaked myself in reading news updates, features and re-read lines I annotated from my books about and by Pope Francis. What is it that I want to know more and remember most about our rock star pope?