Archbishop Eamon celebrates Mass in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, on the first Anniversary of the Death of Pope Francis
On the first anniversary of the death of Pope Francis, Archbishop Eamon Martin reflects on a papacy marked by mercy, humility and a deep commitment to mission. Drawing on powerful moments from his visit to Ireland in 2018, his homily, which was preached in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Armagh on Tuesday 21st April 2026, invites us to recognise both the brokenness and the hope at the heart of our faith, and to rediscover what it means to be a Church that reaches out, accompanies, and heals.
Text of Archbishop Eamon’s Homily
I can’t forget the joy on the face of Pope Francis as his ‘pope-mobile’ entered Croke Park for the Festival of Families in August 2018. The pope was late because his private meeting with survivors of abuse had run over time. It was especially poignant then, that just as the Holy Father arrived into the packed stadium, Patrick Bergin and the festival choir were singing the chorus of Leonard Cohen‘s “anthem”:
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in”.
Here was a pope who seemed to understand the brokenness and sinfulness of human beings, but who kept encouraging us never to give up on Hope. There may be a “crack in everything” – no one is perfect; we are all sinners – but, thanks to the mercy of God, and to the saving death of Christ on the cross, the light of hope shrines on to heal and to dispel the darkness.
In one of his first interviews, Pope Francis was asked, “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” His answer was unexpected: “I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.” It reminded me of our own Saint Patrick who similarly introduced himself, “I am a sinner“. In the case of Pope Francis, we learned that as a seminarian in Rome, he was deeply inspired by Caravaggio’s painting of the calling of Saint Matthew which hangs in the Church of St. Louis of France. Matthew, the tax collector and sinner, is shocked when Jesus gazes at him with great love and calls him: “Follow me!”
“Who, me?”, Matthew seems to say. “No! I’m not ready to change my life.” But the light of Christ’s mercy penetrates Matthew’s brokenness, getting in through the cracks. “Mercy-ing” him, Jesus calls him. Pope Francis revealed that was why he chose as his motto, “Miserando, atque eligendo” Mercy-ing him, he chose him!
Looking back on the pontificate of Pope Francis one year after his death, it strikes me how much he reached out to the peripheries – to those who are most in need of God’s mercy. Early in his pontificate he wrote:
“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security”
Like his namesake, Francis of Assisi, he prioritised the poor and the marginalised – not just those who are financially poor – but everyone who is exploited, excluded, forgotten, or abused. Pope Francis liked to look into the faces of vulnerable people, touching their flesh, drawing them close, as if to assure them, “God loves you… Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything”.
Perhaps that is why he wasted no time in announcing an extraordinary jubilee year of mercy in 2015-16, to include those who are spiritually poor, those who feel empty inside.
Pope Francis’ moving gestures of compassion spoke to millions around the world – his sincere empathy for migrants, his going into prisons to wash and kiss the feet of prisoners, and his humble avoidance of many of the traditional privileges and accoutrements of the papacy.
Beneath it all, everything Pope Francis did was about mission – reminding us that the Church has to get out and accompany people where they are at. He said: ”A Church which does not come out of herself to evangelise becomes self-referential and then gets sick.”
Our late Holy Father had a deep sense of his own brokenness and sinfulness, and that moved him to be different, always encouraging us to be “merciful like the Father”. He often used to say “pray for me – and don’t forget”! As we mark his first anniversary, let’s promise to do just that: Pray for the happy repose of Pope Francis’s soul – and don’t forget!
