The Archbishop of York has issued a statement following the news of the death of Pope Francis today.

‘Let us walk together, work together, pray together.’ These are the words Pope Francis said to me when we met in 2023. They sum up his vision for the church, both the Roman Catholic Church but also ecumenically.

Francis’s whole life and ministry was centred on Jesus who comes among us not to be served, but to serve. We saw that compellingly in Francis’s service of the poor, his love of neighbour especially the displaced, migrant, the asylum seeker, his deep compassion for the well-being of the earth and his desire to lead and build the church in new ways. Francis showed us how to follow Jesus and encouraged us to go and do likewise.

His encyclicals, writings and teachings, were supported by his deeds and actions. In their humility and focus on those in the margins, those actions, his whole life, was instantly recognisable as those of one who followed Jesus.

Pope Francis was acutely aware of the divisions between our churches and how they stand in the way of seeing Jesus Christ more fully. I remember the powerful work the Pope did with the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland in promoting peacebuilding in South Sudan.

He was a listening Pope whose commitment to the principle and the process of synodality will be a permanent legacy to the Roman Catholic Church and to all of us.

I remember, in the brief times I spent with him, how this holy man of God was also very human. He was witty, lively, good to be with, and the warmth of his personality and interest in others shone out from him.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory.