‘He championed human dignity’: California Gov. Newsom pays tribute to Pope Francis
NEIGHBORHOOD FORECAST. ALL RIGHT KELLY, THANK YOU SO MUCH. LET’S GET BACK TO OUR BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE RIGHT NOW. JUST HOURS AFTER THE VATICAN ANNOUNCED POPE FRANCIS PASSED AWAY, IT WAS JUST YESTERDAY THAT THE 88 YEAR OLD PONTIFF GREETED A CROWD OF THOUSANDS. YOU CAN SEE AS THE POPEMOBILE THERE DROVE THROUGH THE VATICAN’S SAINT PETER’S SQUARE. IT WAS HIS HIGHEST PROFILE APPEARANCE IN MONTHS. POPE FRANCIS HAD ONLY MADE BRIEF PUBLIC APPEARANCES SINCE HE WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE HOSPITAL AFTER UNDERGOING MORE THAN FIVE WEEKS OF TREATMENT FOR PNEUMONIA IN BOTH LUNGS. FRANCIS DID NOT LEAD THE EASTER MASS. INSTEAD, CARDINAL ANGELO COMASTRI SPOKE ON HIS BEHALF. LESS THAN 24 HOURS LATER, COMASTRI ANNOUNCED POPE FRANCIS HAD DIED. KAY RECEDE ME. DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WITH DEEP SORROW, I MUST ANNOUNCE THE DEATH OF OUR HOLY FATHER FRANCIS AT 735 THIS MORNING, THE BISHOP OF ROME, FRANCIS, RETURNED TO THE HOUSE OF THE FATHER. HIS WHOLE LIFE WAS DEDICATED TO THE SERVICE OF THE LORD AND HIS CHURCH. HE TAUGHT US TO LIVE THE VALUES OF THE GOSPEL WITH FIDELITY, COURAGE, AND UNIVERSAL LOVE. POPE FRANCIS WAS THE FIRST NON-EUROPEAN PONTIFF IN NEARLY 1300 YEARS. THE PROCESS OF SELECTING A NEW POPE BEGINS WHEN CONCLAVE IS CONVENED BETWEEN 15 AND 20 DAYS AFTER FRANCIS’S PASSING. THE NEW PONTIFF WILL THEN BE INSTALLED WITHIN A WEEK, ROUGHLY AFTER HE IS ELECTED. MEANWHILE, HERE AT HOME, CATHOLICS AND POPE ADMIRERS ARE ALSO MOURNING THE LOSS. LET’S GET TO KCRA 3’S ERIN HEFT LIVE AT THE CATHEDRAL OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT IN SACRAMENTO. SO ERIN HAS THE COMMUNITY STARTED TO COME OUT THIS MORNING TO HONOR POPE FRANCIS. MIKE. NOT QUITE YET. MOST CHURCHES ACTUALLY CLOSED TODAY, EXCEPT FOR THIS ONE, WHICH OPENS AT 10:00 THIS MORNING IN DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO AND HAS ITS FIRST MASS AT NOON TODAY. BUT REALLY, THE ENTIRE WORLD WAKING UP TO THE NEWS OF THE DEATH OF POPE FRANCIS. LIKE YOU SAID THE DAY AFTER EASTER. AND FOR SOME PERSPECTIVE, CALIFORNIA AS A WHOLE HAS QUITE A LARGE POPULATION OF CATHOLICS. AND THIS JUST ABSOLUTELY SURE TO STIR QUITE THE REACTION. SO TAKE A LOOK. THIS JUST A SNAPSHOT OF JUST YESTERDAY INSIDE OF MASS AT THE CATHEDRAL OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT WHERE WE STAND THIS MORNING. THE DEATH OF POPE FRANCIS ANNOUNCED HOURS AFTER THE CLOSE OF EASTER SUNDAY. FRANCIS WAS THE FIRST POPE FROM THE JESUIT ORDER, THE FIRST FROM SOUTHERN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE, AND THE FIRST BORN OUTSIDE OF EUROPE SINCE THE EIGHTH CENTURY. BORN IN ARGENTINA BACK IN 1936 TO ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS, 44 YEARS AFTER BECOMING ORDAINED, HE WAS PICKED TO HEAD THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN 2013. IN HIS TIME, THE HOLY FATHER WORKED TO MAKE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH MORE INCLUSIVE, ESPECIALLY TOWARDS THE LGBTQ PLUS COMMUNITY, APPROVING BLESSINGS FOR SAME SEX COUPLES AND ALLOWING TRANSGENDER PEOPLE TO BE BAPTIZED. AN ANTICIPATED WAVE OF REACTION IN THE WAKE OF HIS PASSING IS COMING AT A VERY UNIQUE TIME. LIKE I SAID, MANY CHURCHES OF ALL TYPES, BUT ESPECIALLY CATHOLIC AND JESUIT, TO TAKE THE DAY AFTER EASTER OFF TO REFLECT. THAT’S PRETTY TYPICAL. AND LIKE I SAID THOUGH, BACK OUT HERE LIVE, THIS IS NOT THE CASE HERE AT THIS CHURCH IN DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO. THEY OPEN AT 10:00 THIS MORNING. SO WE’RE LESS THAN AN HOUR OUT AS MANY PEOPLE WILL, I’M SURE, COME TO REFLECT ON POPE FRANCIS AND THE DEATH OF POPE FRANCIS AND BEGIN TO MOURN THIS LOSS ACROSS, NOT JUST HERE IN CALIFORNIA OR THE NATION, BUT REALLY THE WORLD. MIKE ERIN HEFT, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT LIVE REPORT THIS MORNING. MEANWHILE, JUST INTO OUR NEWSROOM, GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM ALSO RESPONDED TO THE POPE’S PASSING. HE POSTED ON X SAYING IN PART, QUOTE, JENNIFER AND I JOINED THE WORLD IN MOURNING THE PASSING OF POPE FRANCIS. POPE FRANCIS SAW GOD IN ALL HIS CREATURES, REMINDING US OF HUMANITY’S OBLIGATIONS TOWARDS EACH OTHER AND THE WORLD THAT WE LIVE IN, ASKING US TO CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER AND LET US BE LOVING CUSTODIANS OF CREATION. THE WHITE HOUSE ALSO SHARED A MEMORIAL POST FOR POPE FRANCIS. IT READ REST IN PEACE ALONGSIDE PHOTOS OF PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE MEETING THE PONTIFF, PRESIDENT TRUMP POSTED ON HIS TRUTH SOCIAL SAYING, QUOTE, REST IN PEACE, POPE FRANCIS. MAY GOD BLESS HIM AND ALL WHO LOVED HIM. MEANWHILE, VP VANCE ALSO POSTED TEXT JUST A DAY AFTER THE VICE PRESIDENT AND POPE MET PRIVATELY. THE VATICAN SAID, QUOTE, THE MEETING, WHICH LASTED A FEW MINUTES, P
‘He championed human dignity’: California Gov. Newsom pays tribute to Pope Francis
Updated: 9:21 AM PDT Apr 21, 2025
California Gov. Gavin Newsom reacted to the death of Pope Francis on Monday, saying that his papacy was “characterized by moral courage, a profound respect for all creation, and a deep conviction in the transformative power of love to heal and unite”Newsom said he and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom joined the world in mourning Francis, who died Monday at age 88.“He saw God in all His creatures, reminding us of humanity’s obligations towards each other and the world we live in, asking us to ‘care for one another and let us be loving custodians of creation,’” Newsom said in a statement. The statement continued: “Like the saint honored by His Holiness’s papal name, Saint Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis led with his love of peace and creation and sought to protect and lift up the vulnerable. He championed human dignity, especially that of the poor, called the world to urgent climate action, condemned the death penalty, and confronted painful truths — including the Church’s role in the genocide of Indigenous peoples. His papacy was characterized by moral courage, a profound respect for all creation, and a deep conviction in the transformative power of love to heal and unite. As we mourn His Holiness, we honor him by choosing to believe that a better world is possible through grace and kindness, and through fellowship with our neighbors, no matter our differences.”Newsom identifies as Catholic and grew up attending Catholic schools. He traveled to the Vatican last year with Siebel Newsom to participate in a climate solutions summit. California is home to nearly 12 million Catholics, which represents about 30% of the state’s population, according to the California Catholic Conference. The Diocese of Sacramento, which spans 20 counties in northern and eastern regions of the the state, serves more than one million Catholics. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —California Gov. Gavin Newsom reacted to the death of Pope Francis on Monday, saying that his papacy was “characterized by moral courage, a profound respect for all creation, and a deep conviction in the transformative power of love to heal and unite”
Newsom said he and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom joined the world in mourning Francis, who died Monday at age 88.
“He saw God in all His creatures, reminding us of humanity’s obligations towards each other and the world we live in, asking us to ‘care for one another and let us be loving custodians of creation,’” Newsom said in a statement.
The statement continued: “Like the saint honored by His Holiness’s papal name, Saint Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis led with his love of peace and creation and sought to protect and lift up the vulnerable. He championed human dignity, especially that of the poor, called the world to urgent climate action, condemned the death penalty, and confronted painful truths — including the Church’s role in the genocide of Indigenous peoples. His papacy was characterized by moral courage, a profound respect for all creation, and a deep conviction in the transformative power of love to heal and unite. As we mourn His Holiness, we honor him by choosing to believe that a better world is possible through grace and kindness, and through fellowship with our neighbors, no matter our differences.”
Newsom identifies as Catholic and grew up attending Catholic schools. He traveled to the Vatican last year with Siebel Newsom to participate in a climate solutions summit.
California is home to nearly 12 million Catholics, which represents about 30% of the state’s population, according to the California Catholic Conference.
The Diocese of Sacramento, which spans 20 counties in northern and eastern regions of the the state, serves more than one million Catholics.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
