A bishop at the Vatican has told of the tears shed among colleagues for Pope Francis, and a sense of “national pride” for Irish people that a Dublin man is overseeing arrangements until a new pontiff is elected.
Bishop Paul Tighe, who has been based at the Vatican for 17 years, said while Francis had been unwell, there was still a sense of shock about his death on Easter Monday, followed by a “madness” as people were “scattering to get back from wherever they were” over the holiday weekend.
Speaking to the PA news agency in Rome on the eve of what will be a massive papal funeral, Bishop Tighe said while “the machine has kicked in fairly quickly” in terms of preparations for what comes next, there was still a sense of real loss among those in the Vatican for a man dubbed the people’s pope.
The 67-year-old said: “The first emotion for most people is probably a sense of shock. We kind of knew this was coming, but it’s like when an elderly relative dies, you might be waiting but when the moment comes, it’s kind of a shock, and you suddenly realise you’re in a new position.
“In the last few days, I’ve seen many of my colleagues – we all found a moment to go up and visit the body – lots of tears, not just the stoic ‘let’s move on’.
“Lots of tears, lots of sadness for so many people.”
He described the “very poignant” time he had spent with Francis’s remains in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta earlier this week before the coffin was moved to St Peter’s Basilica, where tens of thousands of mourners have paid their respects in recent days.
Asked if it felt like losing a family member, he told PA it did “at some level” but added: “It’s also losing your boss.”
He said: “It’s losing the person who set his tone and direction. It’s also losing a person who had recovered enormous credibility for the Church in and through his own person.
“But also, even more, he was a voice for peace and a voice for justice at a time when the world has real need to hear that voice.”
Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell – the camerlengo or senior Vatican official – had the role of announcing the Pope’s death and is currently carrying out the administrative and financial duties of the Holy See until a new pope takes over.
While Bishop Tighe stopped short of describing Cardinal Farrell as being totally in charge, he said the role involves “coordinating everything”, including meetings with the cardinals ahead of the secret conclave to elect a new pontiff and ensuring the Sistine Chapel is ready to accommodate them when that process begins in the coming weeks.
He said: “At the moment the meetings that are happening with the cardinals, deciding ‘when will we go into conclave, how do we want to prepare for that?’ He has a key role in that.”
Bishop Tighe – who is secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education – said while Cardinal Farrell will do the job well, he is certain the position “would not have been his dream job”.
He said: “I know Kevin a bit. He’s from Dublin, but he’s a long time gone from Ireland, and he’s very marked by his years in America.
“I think this would not have been his dream job, that I can say with absolute freedom. He’s not a man who looks for that kind of stuff, but he’s very effective. And I think now that he’s working there, he’ll be good. He has a task to do, and he’ll get at it, and he’ll do it well.”
He said there is “obviously a little bit of national pride” that an Irish-born man is at the helm.
He added: “I don’t know back at home to what extent, but for the Irish here, there’s a few of us working around the place, there’s a little bit of fun in pointing out to our colleagues that the Irish are now in a new position.”
Paying tribute to Francis, who he met various times, Bishop Tighe said there was “an attentiveness on his part that was just extraordinary, and a kindness, and then after that a great sense of humour”.
He said: I met him one-on-one on a number of occasions. And I think the thing I would always want to say about him is (while) people talk about simplicity, the word I prefer is authenticity.
“You kind of felt that you were meeting the man. There was no performance. He could be in good form, he could be sometimes in less good form, but he was straight and honest and business-like but also showed a great care and interest.”
