A Message from President Salvador D. Aceves on the Passing of Pope Francis

Today, we join Catholics around the world in mourning the loss of His Holiness, Pope Francis. Our hearts are heavy with grief, yet they are also lifted with profound gratitude for his life, his witness, and his enduring legacy.

Last summer, I had the immense privilege of meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican as part of the Rome Seminar of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. That encounter was life-giving. I met a man of deep compassion and extraordinary vision, someone who embodied the spirit of Ignatian humility and discernment. He gathered us, a group of educators to pray. He reminded us that education must connect the mind with the heart and hands, and that prayer is not peripheral to our work—it is essential.

Pope Francis never shied away from the deep wounds and divisions of our world. He called us to encounter, to accompany, to walk with those on the margins, and to build bridges instead of walls. He asked hard questions about the role of the Church and of Catholic higher education in a world facing conflict, inequality, and polarization. These are questions that continue to echo through our classrooms, and community spaces at Regis.

As a Jesuit Catholic university, we find ourselves not only grieving the passing of the Holy Father, we are also called to carry forward his vision. His papacy was a living expression of Ignatian values, cura personalis, care for the whole person, and of magis, the restless call to do more for others, especially the poor and the vulnerable. His call for a Church of mercy, justice, and joy is now ours to live out, boldly and faithfully.

At Regis, we will honor Pope Francis not only in our prayers but in our continued work to educate people of conscience, competence and compassion. We will seek to be, as he urged, a field hospital in the world—responding to suffering with love, injustice with courage, and division with dialogue. This is the mission of Jesuit Catholic higher education. This is the legacy he leaves us. Let us remember him with tenderness. And let us continue his work with hope.

May Pope Francis rest in God’s eternal peace.

Kindly,

Salvador D. Aceves

President