It's been confirmed that Pope Francis has passed away, and so I'd ask you please pray for the repose of his soul.

For me, there are two words that summarize Pope Francis' pontificate.

Heart and humility.

On the latter, I remember in 2013 watching the election of Pope Francis at the Catholic Answers' office alongside the rest of the staff.

I was struck by the almost forlorn way that Pope Francis

addressed the crowds in St. Peter's Square. Some memes even contrasted his reserve with the more

joyful expressions of Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict the 16th. It seemed that in this

moment, Pope Francis focused almost entirely on the weight of the office given to him and the

responsibility that lay before him. A few months after his election, Laura and I got married, and on our

honeymoon, we took part in a tradition called Sposi Novelli. This is where the Pope greets newlywed

couples who attend his Wednesday audience wearing their wedding attire. We followed a priest friend's advice and went to

Gamorelli's, the Pope's official tailor, to purchase a white papal zucetto. When we met the Pope,

which was unusual because Benedict often greeted the newlyweds as a group, we offered to trade

Pope Francis our zichetto for his. Pope Francis then took Laura's bridal tiara and jokingly said,

I take this instead, to which I blurted out, you're the Pope. You can have whatever you want.

Laura then went in to hug the Pope, which threw the papal security into disarray. I could tell in that

moment that Pope Francis was a man who liked to think with his heart. In his pontificate, this led to

many joyful and humorous moments, as well as other incidents that could have benefited from more

clarity and a head-first approach. However, there is something endearing about someone who values

speaking and acting from the heart. And throughout his papacy, Pope Francis' embrace of the most marginalized and vulnerable

shows how he led with not just his own heart, but the heart of Christ. In fact, I would say his

greatest encyclical was the last one he wrote, Delexit Nose, a meditation on the sacred heart of Jesus.

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