EPISCOPAL CONDOLENCE ON THE PASSING OF POPE FRANCIS, BISHOP OF ROME
To the College of Cardinals, the Clergy and Faithful of the Church of Rome, It is with solemn prayer and fraternal sorrow that we extend our heartfelt condolences on the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome and Primate of the Latin Church. In this hour of mourning, we unite our hearts with yours in grief, and commend the soul of your shepherd to the mercy of Almighty God, the Judge of all the earth, who is rich in compassion and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and life everlasting. We remember Pope Francis as a man of faith and a desire for humility, whose earthly pilgrimage was marked by efforts to lift up the poor, to comfort the afflicted, and to bring the language of mercy into the public square of a suffering world. We pray that the Lord, who searches the hearts of men, will receive what was truly offered in love and simplicity to His glory. As bishops in the Orthodox tradition, heirs to the conciliar process that once uni...
