Bishop Timothy Senior greets Pope Francis during an Ad Limina visit to Rome in 2019.Journeying to Rome in the days after the death of Pope Francis and being present for the Holy Father’s funeral in St. Peter’s Square was not on Bishop Timothy Senior’s itinerary as he led more than 44 faithful on a long-planned pilgrimage to Italy last month, but the experience was one that imbued an even greater sense of hope and offered a glimpse of heaven during this Jubilee Year.
“Journeys never go the way you expect, and that’s true for life in general. You have a change that is part of God’s plan and you surrender to it and remain open to where the graces are leading you. In that sense, Pope Francis’ death the day before our pilgrimage certainly gave our journey a different perspective,” the bishop said in an interview with The Witness.
The Diocesan pilgrimage took participants to various sites in Rome, Assisi and Siena April 22-May 1 as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year. Pope Francis designated the Holy Year as a time to renew ourselves as pilgrims of hope, saying in a letter proclaiming the Jubilee: “We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision.” In the letter, he also called the faithful to “refuse to turn a blind eye to the tragedy of rampant poverty that prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a manner worthy of our human dignity.”
The Holy Father’s death on April 21 – Easter Monday – added an unexpected facet to the pilgrimage, one that was transformed by prayers for the pontiff, reflections on hope and the afterlife, and an opportunity for Bishop Senior to be present for the papal funeral in St. Peter’s Square.
“One of the last things Pope Francis published was his autobiography, “Hope.” The reason for our hope is the Death and Resurrection of Christ. We have a hope that will not disappoint, a hope that cannot be taken from us,” Bishop Senior said. “The fact that he would be so close to his death on Easter Sunday and continue to be a beacon of hope in his message to the world that day shows the hope he had in the transforming power of the love of God.”
“For his death to happen on Easter Monday, I think it was a great consolation to him and to all of us,” he said.
Pilgrim Jen Chambers said she was overcome with emotion and a sense of the connectedness of the Universal Church as the pilgrims prayed for the Holy Father throughout their journey – whether during Mass in magnificent basilicas, Morning Prayer before each day’s journey, or the recitation of the Rosary during bus rides from location to location.
“It was beautiful and overwhelming at the same time,” she said. She and her husband, Mike, members of Holy Spirit Parish in Palmyra, signed up for the pilgrimage on the heels of her coming into full Communion with the Church in 2024 and him entering the Church at this year’s Easter Vigil. “We recognized what a great privilege it was to be able to pray for Pope Francis and have that become part of our journey,” she said.
Pope Francis’ funeral is celebrated in St. Peter’s Square on April 26. Bishop Timothy Senior was among the bishops in attendance, during the Diocesan pilgrimage to Italy last month.“The pope’s death was surprising for us. Even though we knew he had been ill, he was working and made a public appearance on Easter,” Mike said. “His passing served as a reminder that we will all go home to God at one point. You have to be prepared for that. Taking the experience of Pope Francis’ death on this pilgrimage was a constant reminder that we all will pass away, and that we have hope in being united in heaven.”
After leading Diocesan pilgrims into the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi on the first part of the journey, Bishop Senior departed for Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral, April 26.
“The experience of the funeral was one of heaven meeting earth,” he said. “St. Peter’s Basilica and the Square are certainly that way to begin with, but I found the liturgy to be very peaceful and consoling in the profound awareness of the presence of God. I had a lot of time to look up and see the statues of the saints and apostles that encircle the colonnade above the Square. You get the sense that this is a timeless reality and it’s very humbling to say that we’re all part of it in some way. This is our Church, and what a great gift and blessing it is to be part of it.”
Seated amongst countless brother bishops from around the world, Bishop Senior said he reflected on the blessing of being entrusted by Pope Francis to shepherd the Diocese of Harrisburg. He also recalled the occasions of having met the Holy Father during his visit to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families in 2015 and when the Bishops of Pennsylvania and New Jersey made their Ad Limina visit to Rome in 2019.
“Thinking of those encounters, I felt a certain closeness to him, and considered myself blessed to be at his funeral,” he said.
A viewpoint from Bishop Timothy Senior shows some of the hundreds of clergy in St. Peter’s Square for the pope’s funeral.Pope Francis’ emphasis on the pastoral approach of bishops and priests has been especially influential for Bishop Senior, who was in his first year as rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia when the 266th Pontiff was elected in March of 2013.
“He spoke a lot about priestly life and ministry, about seminary formation, creating a culture of formation that would serve the Church well with men who would be servant-leaders,” Bishop Senior said. “In 2016, under his leadership, the Ratio Fundamentalis, the plan for priestly formation for the whole world, was revised. It was a significant reconfiguration, based on what we now call the stages of formation.”
Bishop Senior said he was also inspired by the Holy Father’s first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, (The Joy of the Gospel) – which urged the Church to embark on a new chapter of evangelism – and by Laudato Si’ – his encyclical that underscores the Church’s global responsibility for the care for our common home.
“The encyclical that moved me the most was Fratelli Tutti,” Bishop Senior said. It’s a message of fraternity in a world of global challenges, and one that the bishop quoted in his homily for the Mass of Installation as the 12th Bishop of Harrisburg. “It leads into his emphasis on synodality and our being created with equal dignity, and that leaders of the Church have an obligation to create a particular environment where there can be dialogue, and where we can meet people where they are and accompany them.”
“He was clear about the dignity of people as human beings, the need to treat them with love and respect, and to recognize that God is working in their life,” he said. “Yes, you call people to repentance, you call people to change their life, but that doesn’t happen in an instant. You must form a relationship and accompany them. Fratelli Tutti includes an aspirational goal in the universal call to fraternity, ‘that all may be one,’ as Jesus prays.”
“To have the privilege of being at his funeral, visiting his tomb and then celebrating Mass at St. Mary Major was a blessed experience that I am grateful for,” Bishop Senior said.
“I absolutely treasure my Catholic faith. I am extraordinarily grateful that I am a Catholic. These kinds of experiences, of celebrating Masses, visiting these holy sites and reflecting on the gifts Pope Francis has given us only reinforces the faith for me,” he said.
(Photos courtesy of Bishop Timothy Senior and Hilary Smith, Executive Assistant to the Bishop.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
