Pope is remembered at St. Patrick's Cathedral
Mourners gathered near the apse of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where a portrait of the pope sat framed by candles and flowers. Credit: Newsday/Nicholas Spangler
At St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, a trickle of mourners emerged onto Fifth Avenue. Gary Williams, a retired school principal from Manhattan and a volunteer at the church, said he’d awoken to a text message about the pontiff’s death. “I said a prayer immediately,” Williams said, adding that it was fitting the pope had died so close to Easter Sunday and that he was heartened that Cardinal Timothy Dolan, head of the Archdiocese of New York, would play a role in selecting the church’s next leader.
Olivier Bonan, a police officer from Paris, France, said he is not a believer but was moved to see the portrait of Pope Francis inside St. Patrick's Cathedral. “We are attached — we have to preserve this religion in France, though sometimes it’s very hard because we see a lot of people who [have] no respect for our religion in France,” he said.
Geraldine Eng, 44, who lives in midtown Manhattan and often stops at St. Patrick’s on her way in to work, said she had dedicated her prayers Monday to Francis. “I thanked God for giving us this good pope for the past 12 years, and hopefully the next pope will be just as good,” said Eng, who works in finance.
“I liked the fact that he was progressive and inclusive; he had modern ideas,” Eng, said, adding she was impressed especially that Francis had reached out to LGBTQ people and embraced other religions. “He helped the Catholic Church be more accessible to all,” she said.
Jan Bedin, of Chelsea, said that only a day before she’d watched Pope Francis greeting the faithful at St. Peter’s Square. “I thought, ‘That’s a great example of how the elderly can triumph and do it in their own way,’ ” she said.
Bedin, who works with Italian companies expanding into the United States, said she’d been in Italy when Francis was named pope. He paid his own hotel bill and uttered two words — “Buena suerte” – that electrified crowds. “It didn’t matter what he talked about,” Bedin said. "He resonated. You could feel it. He was comfortable in his own skin.”
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