I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll start here…
On the morning after Easter Sunday 2025 Pope Francis died.
I entered the Catholic Church in 2013, the same year Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope. He took the name Francis. Later that year I also took that name when I became Catholic. My journey to that moment began, one could say, with the death of another pope, John Paul II.
I grew up Baptist and anti-Catholic. I never knew any Catholics, never even set foot inside a Catholic church, but when JPII died in 2005 I found myself watching on television the throngs of mourners outside St. Peter’s and I was deeply moved. In fact, I was strangely transfixed. Then I found myself closely following the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI. I knew it was more than curiosity but no way in hell would I have believed if someone told me that a journey had begun and I would someday be Catholic.
But I did become Catholic and I am glad I did. And yet, we all go through dry spells and recently I’ve been far from the Church. I never gave up claiming my faith but I also took a big step backwards and began exploring other areas of faith, other religions, and even some esoterica. I won’t go into all the reasons why but in short I was pulling back from having fallen into a kind of ultra-conservative traditionalist Catholic swamp (it’s a long story). I needed to clear my head and realign my heart. Then Covid hit and it became easy to pull back and not go back.
But now I’m thinking about a dead pope and I feel drawn to the faith that drew me before and still holds me even if I didn’t know what I wanted. Then there was another conclave and I couldn’t stop following the coverage. And now I’m going back to Mass. And I’m praying the Rosary again. And I like the new pope, Leo XIV. What a great name! I’m very curious about him.
But my faith isn’t about popes. It’s about Christ. And I’m dong a lot of thinking and discerning these days. Perhaps even this old blog of mine will be resurrected.
pilgrimakimbo 