Friends, we are in the Easter Octave, and the joy of the resurrection renews the whole world, alleluia! Christ is risen and the tomb is still empty!

Yet at the same time, the universal Church is in mourning, because of the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday. While his death wasn’t unexpected, it was a bit of a surprise, since he had been seen in St. Peter’s Square the day before.

I never met him. I don’t have the picture. And I was never at a world event he was at, like World Youth Day or World Meeting of Families. I’m not a globetrotter (by finances less than nature!).

But I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about his election.

I was teaching at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in 2013, and had an office in the Theology department suite, along with three colleagues. Two were teaching when the smoke changed color, and two of us were there in our offices, glued to our computer feed from the Vatican. We jumped out of our offices and into the common area: “White smoke! White smoke!” And we jumped back to our computers.

After waiting in my office for what seemed to be a long time–maybe it was 40-60 minutes–we all got a glimpse of a man dressed in the papal cassock who we did not recognize and seemed uncomfortable to be there, but kind, and gave a little wave to the drenched crowd. And the reporter announced…it’s…it’s… Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina!

We jumped out of our offices again. HE’S FROM LATIN AMERICA!

(30 seconds later, jumping out again–he’s a JESUIT!)

And his name was to be FRANCIS.

It’s impossible to articulate how excited I was that we had our first Pope from outside of Europe, ever.* Nothing against Europeans, my ancestors are from Europe…Italy, in fact! But for the universal Church to embrace and embody it’s call to be One, reaching out and elevating a man from as far away as you can get from Rome was deeply meaningful to me. We have one faith, one baptism, one Lord of all (Eph 4:5-6). We are no sect, and we don’t have first class and second class countries or continents. We are one people of God, and that one day, it felt like it.

After my colleague and I jumped up and down (something academics don’t really do), I leapt into the hallway where classes were being released. I saw some seminarian students of mine and starting giving them high fives. I may have needed to rein it in….

There is quite a bit I could say I genuinely loved about Pope Francis’ pontificate. Certainly his apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel, on evangelization, is one of them. His clear love for the suffering poor is another. His deep desire for peace over war is a yet another. And some of his interviews (um, maybe not the ones from the planes) were remarkably moving and served us real spiritual depth.

But the surprise and joy of his election has to be near the top of what I loved. It was a moment of profound unity in the Church, if just for a day or two.

Let’s pray for Pope Francis’s soul, for those who will prayerfully select a new Vicar of Christ, and for all of us baptized–to live out that fullest reality that we are One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church.

*Okay, it is possible we had a Pope from Syria, Gregory III in the 700s, but that land was part of the European Byzantine Empire at the time. I don’t personally think that counts. But duly noted for the Church historians reading!