As the bishops of California, Nevada and Hawaii prepared to enter a meeting room on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, Pope Francis stood at the door to greet them one-by-one. He took care of housekeeping items, like letting them know where to find refreshments and the location of the restrooms.
He told the bishops they could ask him any question they wished, and when they did, he patiently answered them all.
That’s how Bishop Alberto Rojas remembers the Ad Limina visit of 2020, one of two occasions he met Pope Francis, who he described as caring, candid and fraternal.
“He was like a real teacher,” Bishop Rojas said. “He would take the time to answer your question in every aspect.”
When it came Bishop Rojas’ turn to ask a question, he said to the Pope, “what are you the most afraid of?”
“Without hesitation he replied ‘division,’ “ Bishop Rojas recalls. “He said we can be divided by the devil. And then he emphasized our unity in Christ, coming from God.”
Bishop Rojas is one of many from the Diocese of San Bernardino to share personal encounters with Pope Francis, either in Rome or when the Holy Father made his lone visit to the United Stated in 2015.
Sister Leticia Salazar, ODN, Chancellor of the Diocese, probably spent the most time with the Holy Father because he had selected her to serve as a voting delegate for the 2021-24 Ordinary Synod of Bishops, which unfolded one of the central themes of his Pontificate – Synodality. During monthlong October gatherings in 2023 and 2024, Sr. Leticia saw him regularly and they became friendly. By the second year of the Synod meetings in Rome the Pope remembered her birthday and offered her a hug that day. Francis was thoughtful and humble, she said, in recounting a conversation they had about her mother, who prayed daily for the Pope. A day after that talk, Pope Francis sought out Sr. Leticia and gave her a Rosary he had blessed especially for her mother.
“I was so touched by that encounter,” she said. “It wasn’t only on a personal level; it was the presence of Christ in the Church.”
Deacon Raymond Moon had a similar impression when he served at the Canonization Mass for St. Junipero Serra in Washington D.C. in September of 2015. Before Mass, he and a fellow deacon were fortunate enough to be on hand outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception when Pope Francis passed by.
“I was literally within arm’s reach of the Holy Father. And when he stopped his car, stepped down to the grotto that was there next to the Basilica, I walked over and was, again, within mere feet of [him],” Deacon Moon recalls. “But being so close to the Vicar of Jesus Christ, I felt the presence of our Lord in a way I have only felt him a few times in my life before that time.”
Bishop Emeritus Gerald Barnes, who led the diocese at the time of Pope Francis’s election encountered Pope Francis on three separate occasions. He notes that this Pope truly embodied the diocesan core values of hospitality, faith sharing, collaboration and reconciliation.
“In conversations with the Holy Father, he always showed an interest in what we had to say,” Bishop Barnes said. “It gave me a sense that all of us have a voice; an important part to play.”
Pope Francis also connected strongly with youth and young adult ministers in the diocese. Brenda Noriega-Flores, who was serving as the Young Adult Ministry Coordinator for the diocese in 2019 when Pope Francis traveled to Panama for World Youth Day, was among a group of ten ministers who had lunch with him. Among the topics of discussion that day was the sexual abuse crisis, which Noriega said the Holy Father addressed with transparency and deep emotion.
“I saw in his eyes that he was grieving with us,” she recalled in a reflection for the BYTE in 2019. “When he talked about the victims, his voice and eyes were full of compassion and pain. He looked at each one of us and asked us to be with the victims.”
As the only bilingual member of the group, Noriega-Flores was pressed into duty as the Pope’s translator during the lunch that day. Their connection continued later that year when Pope Francis named her as one two representatives from the United States to participate in a forum at the Vatican to discuss his Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit, and later to serve on a special advisory body to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life. Noriega-Flores left the diocese in 2020 and is now a doctoral candidate in theology and education at Boston College while remaining an international voice in Hispanic ministry.
Sister Arlina Barral, MSCS, Associate Director of Asian Pacific Islander Ministry for the diocese, met the Holy Father in June 2019 when she traveled to Rome for a gathering of Catholic chaplains. Sr. Arlina gave a presentation at the Congress on Catholic chaplaincy in airports and then took her seat just a few feet away from Pope Francis. They shared a brief exchange of greetings.
“It was short but impactful,” she recalls. “He was very fraternal. You could feel it with all of his smiles. He was laughing and joking with us; he was a happy person.”
Wil Aguirre, Director of Advocacy and Justice for Immigrants for the diocese, may have been one of the last local ministers to see Pope Francis in person. He and is parents had a front row seat for the Angelus Prayer with the Pope on December 25. They were in Rome to make a Pilgrimage for the Jubilee Year.
“Even in that frail state, it never crossed our minds that he would pass away soon,” Aguirre said.
Aguirre and his family were struck by the reverence and devotion of the huge crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
“You could hear a pin drop when he’s speaking. You’re hanging on every word he’s saying, and then people are screaming for him, like children scream for their parents.”
In homilies and public remarks following the Pope’s passing, Bishop Rojas has encouraged local Catholics to reflect on his teachings and to live them out.
“We will have Pope Francis for the rest of our lives,” the Bishop said during a Mass at the Diocesan Pastoral Center on April 23. “If we take Christ’s message seriously, we will appreciate what Pope Francis has done for us.”