At welcoming Mass for Archbishop Grob, worshippers also pray for Pope Francis
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Monday night's Mass at St. Matthias Parish had already been marked for weeks as a special occasion for Catholics in southeastern Wisconsin. However, the gathering at the southwest side church took on extra significance over the weekend when word spread Pope Francis had fallen gravely ill after developing double pneumonia.
Worshippers had already planned to fill the pews as they looked to greet the new archbishop of Milwaukee. Jeffrey Grob was installed last month after Pope Francis named him Milwaukee's next archbishop last fall.
Grob presided over Monday's Mass at St. Matthias, the seventh "welcoming Mass" held for Grob since he became archbishop. Anne and Paul Bender said they'd already planned on attending because they wanted to greet Grob.
"We're excited to meet the new archbishop and welcome him and show him our support," Anne Bender said.
There were also mixed emotions because of Pope Francis' condition. While the Vatican said the pope's condition had slightly improved Monday, parishioners said it was an overriding thought.
"It's weighing on everybody's minds, I'm sure," Jay Krickeberg, of Waukesha, said. "Everybody's standing by, watching, hoping for the best."
Krickeberg said he couldn't help but to think of his own family as he considered Pope Francis's condition. The pope's age of 88 held a special significance.
"My wife and I, we lost all three of our parents within an eight-month period. They were all 89 years old in 2020," Krickeberg said. "We know when you get to that age, and you're gonna have your health conditions. The way I tell everybody, God gave you a gift. We enjoyed the gift."
Bender said she wanted to take an optimistic approach to the pope's situation while also acknowledging the impact it has on the church.
"Could be a joyful thing for Pope Francis. He could be going to heaven, going to see Jesus," she said. "But it is sad for the church. It's a historic time, I guess."
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee contains 188 churches across 10 counties. The archdiocese says those churches have more than 500,000 combined parishioners.
When a pope dies, the College of Cardinals has a conclave. In the process, those cardinals lock themselves away to deliberate on who should next ascend to lead the church. Grob said the process of deciding a new pope is also, in many ways, deciding the church's direction.
"Only in short periods of time, it seems that the pendulum remains, for any length of time, in the middle," Grob said. "It's always swinging from one extreme, one side to the other."
Conservative Catholics have criticized Pope Francis over their belief he's swung too far to the left. There have been controversies inside the church over Francis' progressive stands on economic, immigration and climate change.
Archbishop of Milwaukee Jeffrey Grob was named archbishop by Pope Francis last fall. Before that, Francis named him an auxiliary bishop in Chicago in 2020.
Grob said, at the same time, the church also has to consider its long-term survival, which must include efforts to connect with younger generations.
"Taking the church, the Catholic Church, out to all people, sometimes you have to ask difficult questions," Grob said. "Sometimes, people don't want to hear the questions, or they don't like they answers, but you cannot live in a bubble."
Grob noted Pope Francis will always have a special significance to him, personally. It was Francis who named Grob an auxiliary bishop in Chicago in 2020 before naming him Milwaukee's archbishop in November.
Grob added he had been saying Francis' name in prayers at every Mass he's led since Francis became pope nearly 12 years ago, so any change in the papacy would come with constant reminders.
"Every priest that has been saying Mass, or bishop that has been saying Mass, since March of 2013, has been saying 'Francis,'" Grob said. "And so, it's part of the fabric of your life. It's part of the fabric of the church."