23 April 2025
Beatrice Mary Rakoma wore a dress with the smiling face of Pope Francis printed on the fabric when she joined hundreds of people who attended a memorial mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Hillbrow on Wednesday. Photos: Ihsaan Haffejee
Hundreds of people gathered at the Cathedral of Christ the King church in Hillbrow on Wednesday for a special memorial mass honouring Pope Francis, who died on 21 April, aged 88.
Johannesburg Archbishop Cardinal Stephen Brislin, who was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023, addressed the gathering. Brislin said that from the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis, whose death came a day after Easter Sunday, challenged world leaders and the global populace on how the most vulnerable people are treated.
Brislin noted that Pope Francis’ first papal trip outside the Vatican was to the Italian Island of Lampedusa where 366 African migrants had died in a shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea as they tried to reach Europe.
“His challenge to all countries to welcome, promote, accompany and integrate refugees has been a theme of his entire papacy since 2013. Sadly, there remains a great deal of discrimination against migrants,” said Brislin.
The Archbishop said the late Pope “probably received the most abuse in the modern era” due to his sympathy for the poor and oppressed.
“His courage saw him through the negativity, including that of nations and governments who rejected his message of peace, his denunciation of war and conflict. The destruction of life truly disturbed, saddened and angered him.”
Archbishop Cardinal Stephen Brislin led the memorial mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Hillbrow.
Worshippers bowed their heads in prayer as they paid their respects during the service. Many rushed to take photos of themselves with a photo of the Pope placed near the altar.
Wearing a dress bearing the smiling face of the Pope, Beatrice Mary Rakoma said: “We will miss him as our Pope. We will miss his humanity.”
A woman prays during the memorial mass.
An altar boy holds a candle lit in memory of Pope Francis.