Bells toll, faithful gather as Archbishop of Toronto holds mass for Pope Francis

By Canadian Press on April 22, 2025.

TORONTO — Church bells rang as mourners gathered at a Toronto basilica to pray for the late Pope Francis.

Cardinal Frank Leo, Archbishop of Toronto, is presiding over a mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica, where he acknowledged a day of mourning, but also giving thanks.

Faithful trickled into the downtown church just before noon under clear skies to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. Among them was 72-year-old Decio Raposo who called Francis “a great pope.”

The Vatican announced yesterday that Francis had died of a stroke and heart failure at age 88. The funeral will be held Saturday in St. Peter’s Square.

Leo was among the last group of cardinals Francis elevated into the role back in December, and one of five cardinals from Canada.

He will also preside over an evening prayer for the late pope.

“It is a day of mourning, a day of sadness but in the Easter Octave and in this Holy Year, it is a day of hope and day also of thanksgiving to God for the gift that he has given us in Pope Francis,” Leo told congregants Tuesday.

Before the service, Raposo remembered the pontiff and his legacy.

“He was a good person. He came to represent God on earth and God bless his soul,” Raposo said.

“To me he was a great Pope and it’s sad to see him go.”

In Montreal, Archbishop Christian Lépine will preside over an evening requiem mass at the Mary Queen of the World Cathedral, followed by a vigil.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2025.

Maan Alhmidi and Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press