A Woman’s View: Remembering Pope Francis

SALT LAKE CITY — After passing away on Monday and lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis was laid to rest on Saturday. 

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The Associated Press reported on Saturday that the Vatican estimated at least 250,000 people were present at the Pope’s funeral, with at least 150,000 more located along the motorcade route.

While the public in Rome were able to celebrate the pope’s life, other’s in Utah shared stories about Francis days before he was laid to rest.

Singer and songwriter Cherie Call said she was really impressed by the Pope and she decided to look up quotes said by him.

“There was one (quote) that I really liked a lot,” Call said. “‘I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about his level of blood sugars. You have to heal his wounds, and then we can talk about everything else.’ I just really loved that (quote) a lot.”

According to Call, she felt the quote represented the way she pictured a church in general.

“I just thought that was a good example of what I’ve seen of him,” Call said while talking about the Pope’s quote.

Luz Lewis-Perez, Director of Development and Programs for the Kidney Foundation for Utah and Idaho, talked about how the world needs the Pope’s spirit today.

“He’s a very beloved pope,” Lewis-Perez said. 

Lewis-Perez said she isn’t Catholic but her husband does have family who is part of the religion.

“I think, with his passing, and it’s unfortunate because this is a time where we actually need that kind of spirit,” Lewis-Perez said. “He really put his hand out to the LGBTQ community, he really made a lot more inclusion to those who are divorced or those who are remarried.”

“He will be missed, and he was a gentle compassionate spirit in this world that we needed,” Lewis-Perez said.

Related: Utahns reflect on the legacy of Pope Francis after his death

Robbyn Scribner, cofounder and director of Outreach for Tech Moms said she recalls the moment Francis was instated as pope. She said she was impressed by the Pope’s love for the poor and the hungry around the world, adding that she liked how the Pope not only made sure a person’s spiritual needs were taken care of, but their physical needs as well.

“I always found his compassion and love for the least, I think that’s very Christ-like and very much what a leader of this large Christian religion should be,” Scribner said.

Scribner also talked about how she watched Francis during the last 10 years of his life as pope.

“Seeing how much he stood up for things that were not popular within his own traditional community… I saw so much courage in the way that he said ‘maybe we need to do things a little bit differently,'” Scribner shared. “I think so many major religions are facing such attention right now between the way we’ve always done it and the way we need to do it moving forward.”

Scribner said she felt like the Pope was able to handle that religious attention in a bold and brave way, standing up for his beliefs and leading his church in his own way.

“I just couldn’t have more respect for him,” Scribner said. “I’m really grateful for the way he served his church community and the entire world during his service time.”

A Woman’s View with Amanda Dickson airs on Sunday’s from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.