As mourners pay their final respects to Pope Francis at his funeral in Vatican City on Saturday, some Boston area Catholics are reflecting on how the pontiff renewed interest in the faith among the younger generation.
“It takes a special person to be able to do that. I don’t know that there are many people like Pope Francis,” said Lily Harden, a senior at Boston College. “His light was able to shine across generations and make those connections that aren’t always necessarily possible.”
Harden and many others of her generation embraced Pope Francis’ progressive ideals surrounding immigration, climate change, marginalized communities and social justice issues.
“We’re the ones that are signing up for different events and opportunities to reflect in community and the communal discernment process,” added Harden, who is a member of the campus ministry and president of the Jesuit school’s Ignatian Society.
Holy Cross religious studies professor Mathew Schmalz said the pope’s popularity came despite criticism from more conservative Catholics.
“In a lot of places, young people seem to be attracted to the traditional forms of Catholicism,” Schmalz said.
Those converts, he said, often have an interest in the growing Latin movement or bringing back Latin masses. Schmalz said those traditions were more exemplified by Pope John Paul II or Pope Benedict XVI, and some Catholics did not align as closely with Pope Francis’ views and leadership.
“That said, I think in some ways with Pope Francis, it’s become cool to be Catholic again,” Schmalz said.
Harden, meanwhile, believes when it comes to the Catholic Church, “progress and tradition are kind of foils. Either there is going to be change or we stay the same.”
At Stonehill College in Easton, a private Catholic College, students shared their thoughts on Francis’ legacy and the Catholic Church’s future.
Avery Areson
Smithfield, Rhode Island
“All his points were extremely easy to understand, and he would bring different ideas that a lot of people can relate to. I think it will carry over. I think whoever we elect next will continue those practices.”
Trinity Elder
Rockport, Massachusetts
“It is great that the church is starting to become more progressive. It allows for more inclusiveness than what’s previously been taught within the church. He was a force that got younger people interested. I think that with more younger people joining the church too, it created a movement that helped more people to get involved. I think he’s set a high bar, for sure, for all the other popes to come, and I think that it’s going to carry on throughout whoever we elect next.”
Connor O’Donnell
Abington, Massachusetts
“He did a very good job at staying moderate and being a good-hearted person, which I think that’s more important than any sort of political stance. So, I think, he wore his heart in his sleeve a lot of the time.”
Rachel Doyle
Dallas
“I’ve kind of always viewed him in like a very positive light. ... All my professors talk about what great fans they are of him and stuff, and what he does for the church, and like how he makes it more of like a communal, or a community-based form of church.”
Neave Bowman
Massapequa, New York
“I think he was a very important figure in the Catholic religion, and I think he did a really nice job of kind of including everyone into it and kind of adjusting the views to fit modern day.”
Grace Mercurio
Warwick, Rhode Island
“How our country is changing and how the world is changing, I think that [he] kind of appealed to younger generations, especially like Gen Z and all our views. I feel like I’m always seeing things on social media that go along with those ideas of helping less fortunate.”
