Rabbi John Linder, who wrote this article, displays the Hebrew Bible he gifted to Pope Francis during a 2022 meeting at the Vatican.

[Originally published by azcentral]

I’ll never forget my encounter with Pope Francis.

At the end of a nearly 90-minute meeting, I presented him with a gift — a leather-bound, gold-leaf Hebrew Bible — and told him what everyone in our delegation was feeling: “Your Holiness, I have never been more certain that we stand on common ground.”

That moment in October 2022 marked the beginning of what would become a deeply meaningful series of encounters between our interfaith network and the pope, who died on April 21 at 88.

They will certainly be on my mind as the world mourns him during his April 26 funeral.

Pope Francis cared deeply about immigrants

Pope Francis had long stood for the dignity and well-being of society’s most vulnerable, and he invited the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation network of organizations — known locally as Valley Interfaith Project (VIP) — to meet with him.

He wanted to learn about our interfaith work to organize those at the margin of society, especially the immigrant community. 

Our delegation met with the pope three times in as many years, most recently last August, and each encounter had a profound impact.

“The last thing I ever expected to happen to me was that I would meet the pope, let alone be part of a meaningful, substantive conversation with him for 90 minutes,” Monica Dorcey, a Valley Interfaith Project leader with the West Valley Neighborhood Coalition in El Mirage, later told me.

“It was truly a grace-filled and validating moment in my faith journey for the work we have done.”

The pope never rushed. He always listened intently

Our delegation’s meetings with Pope Francis took place in a surprisingly informal setting in the reception room of his Vatican residence called Santa Marta. 

It is a simple room in a dormitory style building, and we sat in a circle with Pope Francis, while his aides waited outside the door.

Unrushed, he listened intently as we shared stories of our work to expand Medicaid access and after-school programs, to offer workforce training through Arizona Career Pathways, and to fight for immigrant justice and safety against racial profiling and legislative attacks.

“You used this word ‘invisible,’” Pope Francis told one of our leaders who spent years working in the fields after migrating from Mexico. “And this is how it can feel to us when we are powerless.”

Throughout these conversations, he shared stories of his own, and he taught from scripture, connecting the parable of the Good Samaritan to the work of creating systemic change. 

Pope Francis was deeply interested in our work with immigrant communities. He strongly encouraged our Recognizing the Stranger strategy in 20 Catholic dioceses, including here in Phoenix, which trains Spanish-speaking immigrants and parish leaders to engage in their communities.

Phoenix Bishop John Dolan helped convene such a training locally in November. 

He enjoyed good humor. Remember his prayer today

The pope’s laughter and humor put us quickly at ease. When I shared that my 93-year-old mother-in-law had inscribed the Bible I had gifted him, Pope Francis smiled.

“A 93-year-old mother-in-law?” he deadpanned. “That can be a gift … or some might say a curse!” 

As our delegation ended a final meeting last August, they all understood that this could be their last conversation with the pope. The room felt heavy but hopeful.

Sensing those feelings, Pope Francis said he wanted to share something he has prayed every day for the last 40 years. He then asked my colleague, Industrial Areas Foundation national co-director Joe Rubio, to read aloud St. Thomas More’s Prayer for Good Humor.

Read it today in honor of this remarkable man.

Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest. Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it.

Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil, but rather finds the means to put things back in their place.

Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments, nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.”

Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor. Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy, and to be able to share it with others.

John Linder is senior rabbi at Temple Solel in Paradise Valley and a member of the Valley Interfaith Project executive committee. Reach him at [email protected].

I'm a Rabbi Who Met with Pope Francis. His Interest in Arizona was Remarkable azcentral [PDF]