Pope Francis has been remembered as a leader who was determined to be with the people until the end as millions of Australian Catholics mourn the pontiff’s passing.
The 88-year-old’s death on Monday after a recent serious battle with double pneumonia was marked by tolling church bells and preparations for scores of memorial masses for the Catholic leader.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president and Perth archbishop Tim Costelloe reflected on images taken just hours before the Pope’s death, when Francis made a public appearance at St Peter’s Square.
“Even though he was so sick, and so weak, he was determined to be with his people,” Archbishop Costelloe told ABC Radio National on Tuesday.
“And I think being with his people, being present to his people, was probably the great gift that he brought to the church and to the world.”
Many mourners attended early masses at local cathedrals following the Pope’s passing.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is Catholic, said the major party leaders had agreed to dial back election campaigning on Tuesday as a sign of respect.
He attended mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne on a rainy Tuesday morning, when he was greeted by the cathedral’s dean, Monsignor Stuart Hall.
The Pope’s death could also prove a turning point in Australia’s relationship with the Vatican after Francis overlooked local archbishops when selecting the nation’s sole cardinal in December.
Cardinal Mykola Bychok said he was filled with sadness for the loss of a “pope of peace” and a man of simple piety.
“This sadness is our human reaction to the death of a much-loved father,” the Ukrainian-born, Melbourne-based cardinal said.
“I am grateful for the late Holy Father’s frequent appeals for a just peace in Ukraine and for the efforts of the Holy See that he oversaw – known and secret – that in some way helped bring relief to the imprisoned and suffering.”
Cardinal Bychok was on his way to the Middle East on a pilgrimage but will divert to Rome as soon as possible.
He will take part in the funeral rites before joining other cardinal electors to choose the 267th and next Pope.
Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher – who was controversially overlooked as cardinal – praised the pontiff’s condemnation of what he described as “the globalisation of indifference” when it came to refugees and the poor and “the throwaway culture” towards the unborn and elderly.
Joining the prime minister in an earlier, private prayer at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Monday evening, Mary Picard recalled a “really good” and progressive Pope.
“He did a lot of good, making some of the really sort of high ceremonies a bit more … for the people,” she told AAP.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton noted the late Pope lived frugally, simply and was driven by “Christ’s values of mercy and forgiveness”.
The leaders debate, expected to be held on Tuesday night, is due to go ahead as planned in Sydney.
Pope Francis was also lauded for inspiring Australia’s 820,000 Catholic school students to live with courage and compassion.
The change in leadership could also offer a chance for Australia to “reset” its relationship with the Vatican, Deakin and Oxford universities’ Catholic Church historian Miles Pattenden said.
“It was an extraordinary snub that Francis made Mykola Bychok, the Ukrainian Australian bishop, cardinal and not the archbishop of Sydney,” Dr Pattenden said.
“There’s no way to read that, except as a rebuke to Sydney. It may be that a new Pope allows for a re-test of that, even if he’s still a liberal.”
National flags on federal government buildings will fly at half-mast on Tuesday as a mark of respect.
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