Arizona man reflects on time he spent with Pope Francis
PHOENIX - As many reflect on the life and the legacy of Pope Francis, we wanted to hear about the man and the pope from people who knew him.
Tom Espinoza, President of Espinoza Community Development, spent weeks with the pope just after he was elected in 2013.
Tom Espinoza, President of Espinoza Community Development
What they're saying:
He says God picks the right pope for the right time. Pope Francis caused a lot of commotion in the church with his empathetic viewpoints on the poor, Espinoza said,
From his Phoenix home, Espinoza says he’ll never forget the first time he met Pope Francis.
"He really treated us well," Espinoza said.
Espinoza went to the Vatican in 2013 to meet the pope as a member of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders.
It wasn’t his first pope meeting. He was at Sun Devil Stadium in 1987 when Pope John Paul visited.
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"I pulled him over, and I thanked him for speaking so many languages," Espinoza remembered.
He says he could tell Pope Francis was a different type of leader after he cracked a joke about food.
"As a good Catholic, I'm like, ‘Hey man, you know, I’ve got genuflect.' And here’s the pope going around, you know, ‘Where is the beef,' you know, and I’m like, this guy is really down-to-earth," Espinoza said.
Pope Francis' cause of death revealed by Vatican
Francis made his final public appearance on Easter Sunday, blessing crowds from the same balcony where he was first introduced as pope in 2013.
In the hours since Pope Francis’ death, Espinoza says he knows the pope was in a lot of pain and is now home.
"There’s a guy who is sick, and he decides to go to mass yesterday, so he’s still here with all the doctors telling him don’t go. He still goes to mass," Espinoza
said.
He now thinks back to his many meetings with Pope Francis, like when the pope blessed rosaries for his grandchildren.
"It was fun with him, and yet you knew he was sincere. He wasn’t putting on a show. That was Pope Francis," Espinoza recalled.
The backstory:
Vatican officials announced Monday afternoon that Pope Francis passed away due to a cerebral stroke.
Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, who leads the Vatican's health department, stated that the stroke caused Pope Francis to fall into a coma, resulting in irreversible heart failure.
"At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church," Cardinal Kevin Farrell said from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta on April 21, where Francis lived.
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