Local Catholic bishops and political leaders reacted to the death of Pope Francis on Monday with messages of mercy, sacrifice and love for the world's most vulnerable populations -- messages the pontiff himself cared deeply about.
Born in 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Francis was ordained in 1969, became archbishop of his hometown in 1998, a cardinal in 2001 and elected pope in 2013.
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WATCH HEREThe first pope from Latin America, Francis slipped into a coma and died Monday morning in his apartment in Vatican City from a stroke and heart failure, according to a statement on the Holy See website.
"He was unique among popes: One of a kind. He will be forever known as 'The Pope of Mercy,'" said Bishop Michael Barber of the Diocese of Oakland. "He called for a 'Holy Year of Mercy' in 2016 which inspired an outpouring of charitable works and led to the reconciliation of thousands of Catholics with the Lord."
Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Cordileone urged people to use Francis as an inspiration to drive them to take action in their communities.
"Pope Francis called on us all to give more, sacrifice more, and care more about the poorest and most vulnerable, from the tiny infant in the womb, to the elderly and infirm, to the migrant and the refugee," Cordileone said.
The Bishop of San Jose Oscar Cantú said he will soon celebrate a Diocesan Memorial Mass for the late pope and will announce details in the coming days.
"As we mourn his passing, we also unite with the Church around the world in prayer during this novendiales period, nine days of prayer and remembrance following the death of a pope," Cantú said.
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SIGN UP "He referred to the Church as a field hospital, reaching out to the peripheries, and encouraged us all to encounter each other, especially the poor," Cantú said. "His emphasis on mercy, care for creation, and solidarity with the poor has left an indelible mark on the Church and the world."
Cantú presided over the mass on Monday and spoke about the pope’s legacy.
“One of humility. One of going to the margins, to the peripheries of society and lifting up those who have had no voice. Those who’ve been invisible and seeing them as truly brothers and sisters in humanity,” he said.
Cantú also spoke about the pope’s recent declaration that the 2025 catholic jubilee should be the jubilee of hope and how important that message is.
“There is a tendency toward cynicism to just giving up on humanity, let alone politics or government, or even the church. Pope Francis gives us that clear message that we can’t give up,” he said.
Also in attendance in San Jose on Monday were Kevin and JennyRose Bernaga, a South Bay couple who met Francis six months ago. They said they were attending a special service for newlyweds at the Vatican when Francis was wheeled right up to them.
Kevin Bernaga brought a zucchetto, a skullcap, to give to him.
“I gifted him the zucchetto and he looked at it, placed it on his head, and he smiled. So, he took it right off and he gave it back to me and he said, ‘This is now for you. This is your gift,’” he said.
The zucchetto was placed near the altar for Monday’s mass.
One of his key messages, as climate change worsened, was that humans have a moral obligation to protect the planet and its inhabitants and to refrain from exploiting the natural world.
He was deeply concerned with pollution, water quality, the loss of biodiversity and how environmental degradation is linked to the decline in the quality of life for billions of people and global inequality.
"Perhaps his most distinctive leadership will be his historic commitment to addressing the climate crisis," said U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco.
"In his ground-breaking encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis writes with beauty and clarity, with moral force and fierce urgency to call on all of us to be good stewards of God's Creation."
The next pope will be selected by a meeting of a group of cardinals in the Sistine Chapel that will being within 15 to 20 days of Francis' death.
NBC Bay Area's Ian Cull contributed to the report.
