UPDATE: Bishop Mark Hagemoen will preside at a diocesan Mass of Remembrance for Pope Francis at 11:00 am Saturday, April 26, 2025 at the Cathedral of the Holy Family, 123 Nelson Road, Saskatoon. The Mass will also be live-streamed at: YouTube LINK

By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News

Bishop Mark Hagemoen of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon joined others around the world reflecting on the life and witness of Pope Francis, who died Easter Monday, April 21, 2025.

In a message to the clergy, religious and faithful of the diocese of Saskatoon, as well as during a homily at a noon hour Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon, Bishop Hagemoen noted the suddenness of the news of the Holy Father’s death, its occurrence in the Easter season in this Jubilee Year of Hope, and the dark, cold, rainy Saskatchewan weather that mirrored the sadness of those mourning Pope Francis’ death.

“Although he had been sick with serious pneumonia for a long time, his passing strikes as very sudden – perhaps because of his sheer will that enabled him to leave his hospital bed about a month ago and participate in the Church’s celebration of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter,” said Hagemoen.

“Today’s weather here in Saskatchewan seems to honour the movement from the celebration yesterday of a gorgeous sunny and warm Easter day – to the cool dampness and darkness that I think we all feel about the news of Pope Francis’s death.”

Saskatoon’s bishop added: “I wish to express my acknowledgement and great thanks to Almighty God for the Holy Father’s faith, leadership, and the ways in which  he compelled all of us to always go deeper in our understanding and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Message from CCCB President Bishop William McGrattan: English / French

In his homily at Mass on the day of the pope’s death, Hagemoen said that once funeral details are announced by the Vatican, a diocesan Mass will also be held in Saskatoon in his memory.

“In this Easter season we celebrate this man who was faithfulness to the end — his faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Hagemoen.

Pope Francis appointed Hagemoen as bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith in 2013, the first year of his pontificate. Meeting the Holy Father as a new bishop during “bishop school,” and later during an “Ad Limina” visit of Canadian bishops to the Vatican, Hagemoen said he was impressed by Pope Francis’ great mind, his listening ability, and his ability to “pull apart a question like no other… with great openness and trust in God.”

Saskatoon’s bishop noted: “Because the man who took the name Francis and known for his simplicity was also a Jesuit and a great pastor from the Global South …we were quickly confronted with a new perspective and way of going about things in the Church.”

Since he was elected, Pope Francis has stressed the great mercy of God, with forgiveness and healing as “the lens in which to understand God,” Hagemoen said. Fraternity and dialogue are other themes of his pontificate, along with a great concern for God’s creation, pastoral support for families and young people, promoting the role of women in the church, and an ongoing concern for migrants, the poor, and those harmed by war.

“He was a man of reform and he wanted to bring the church further into the gospel,” added Hagemoen.

“Of course, we in Canada cannot forget — and are strongly affected by — his great pastoral visit in 2022, following the Indigenous delegation to the Vatican that same year,” Hagemoen said. “He delivered an apology on behalf of the church and in several great presentations and interactions with elders, knowledge keepers, and others, really strongly presented the church’s desire to build relationship.”

The bishop concluded: “Well done, good and faithful servant, your good deeds go before you. May you now receive your heavenly reward as you come to rest in the peace and light of Christ.”

Video: Homily on April 21 by Bishop Hagemoen:

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Kiply Lukan Yaworski is the communications coordinator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon: rcdos.ca.

Communications and Saskatoon Catholic News are supported by gifts to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal: dscf.ca/baa.