By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
VATICAN CITY/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – U.S. evangelist Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Evangelical aid organization Samaritan’s Purse, urged Christians to pray for the Catholic Church following Pope Francis’s death.
“Pope Francis passed away this morning after battling health issues,” Graham said in a statement on social media. “He was able to have meetings and appear at some of the Vatican’s Holy Week observances in just the last couple of days,” added Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham.
“I had the opportunity to meet and talk with him last year when I went to Naples to preach. Pray for the Catholic Church as they begin the process of selecting the next pope.”
Graham included a photo of himself shaking hands with the pontiff as part of his post.
Other Christian leaders, including Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, also offered condolences. “Pope Francis served Christ’s church with wisdom, courage, and humility,” she stated. “Throughout his pastoral ministry, he served as an instrument of God’s justice and peace for all people and the whole of creation.”
Reverend Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders and an Evangelical public relations executive, urged Evangelicals to “pray for the Catholic Church as they mourn the passing of Pope Francis and prepare to select his successor.”
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Moore said he participated in the late pope’s pilgrimages to the United Arab Emirates, reportedly the first time a pontiff had ever visited the Arabian Peninsula and the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, also noticed that
“We mourn the passing of Pope Francis, a visionary leader of faith and a tireless advocate for the marginalized,” tweeted Rodriguez.
In 2016, Rodriquez and the late pope gave speeches at the Together 2016 Evangelical event in Washington, D.C.
Rodriquez added, “His life was a testament to hope — the hope that the Church can shine as a beacon of light in a darkening world. Now, more than ever, that message is needed, and today, we have lost one of its most steadfast champions.”
Several Christian leaders had similar messages as they remembered the passing of the pontiff of some 1 billion Catholics at age 88.
The Vatican said Pope Francis had gone “in the arms of the Father.”
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
A damaged Russian gas tanker is drifting unmanned through the Mediterranean Sea, prompting Malta to prepare emergency measures while tensions linked to the war in Ukraine spill into Europe’s energy and security landscape.
Iran launched a new wave of drone and missile attacks on Gulf countries Thursday, the 13th day of the United States-Israel war against Tehran, with strikes reported in Bahrain and other states, sending oil prices sharply higher and raising concerns among foreign workers, including Christians.
Nearly 25,000 Christians, many of them impoverished sanitation workers and day laborers, face possible eviction from their homes in Pakistan’s capital after authorities ordered them to vacate two settlements within days, Christians familiar with the situation confirmed Thursday.
Law enforcement is responding to reports of an active shooter and a vehicle driven into Temple Israel synagogue and school, located in West Bloomfield Township.
U.S. Senate Democrats tanked the Department of Homeland Security funding bill for a fourth time Thursday, ensuring the department’s funding lapse will span at least a month.
A troubling wave of antisemitic incidents has struck Jewish communities across the United States, Canada, and Europe over the past week, prompting heightened security and renewed warnings from officials.
Israel intensified its campaign against Iran on Thursday, striking a nuclear-weapons development facility near Tehran while continuing operations against the regime’s missile and drone infrastructure.