“I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord” (Psalm 118:17).
Dear disciples of Jesus across our Central/Southern Illinois Synod,
Even as our ears still ring with the songs of Alleluia from our Easter worship, our hearts share in grief and sadness with our siblings in Christ around the globe upon the death early this morning of Pope Francis. We lift in prayer all our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers, including those in the Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, and Springfield dioceses in central and southern Illinois.
We give thanks for the bold witness to Christ that Pope Francis gave, especially through his care and concern for the poor and most vulnerable among us. Most importantly, we give thanks for the promise of this Easter season and the victory that belongs to all the faithful in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
As we join our hearts in prayer, I commend to you the message below from our Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton.
Centered in Christ +
Greg G. Busboom
Bishop
Central/Southern Illinois Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. —Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Dear church,
On this Easter Monday, we of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America join with people around the world in heartfelt grief at the death of Pope Francis, and we celebrate his life eternal in Jesus Christ.
Pope Francis served Christ’s church with wisdom, courage and humility. Throughout his pastoral ministry, he served as an instrument of God’s justice and peace for all people and the whole of creation. His commitment to the poorest people, in his native Buenos Aires and around the world, was ever present, even in his simple living.
Pope Francis will go down in history as the first Jesuit bishop of Rome and the first from the Americas. His papacy will be remembered for his clarion call to action for climate justice, his bold engagement in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, his compassionate approach to several complex social issues, and his clear concern about the rise of right-wing populism worldwide and its impact on the most vulnerable.
In particular, we will remember Pope Francis for his significant contributions to the dialogue of life between Lutherans and Catholics, advancing the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. We will recall with amazement his participation alongside the Lutheran World Federation in a joint ecumenical commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation on October 31, 2016. I will never forget witnessing the procession of the pope and the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation down the aisle in red stoles during the prayer service that day. We give thanks to God for this witness to our visible unity in Christ.
We pray that God will strengthen the people of the Roman Catholic Church with the promise of Christ’s resurrection. We extend our condolences to all our Catholic siblings, including the bishops, priests, deacons, scholars and laypeople with whom we are in dialogue and partnership. We also pray that the Holy Spirit will guide the deliberations of the College of Cardinals as they begin the process of selecting a new pope.
O God, we remember with thanksgiving
those who have loved and served you on earth
and now rest from their labors, especially our brother, Pope Francis.
Keep us in union with all your saints,
and bring us with them to the joyous feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
In Christ,
The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America