Navarrosa, who is currently writing his thesis on the pope’s 2016 encyclical 'Amoris Laetitia,' recalls meeting Francis in 2021 and says he had hoped to meet him again. “I’m not worried about the future of the church, because it is guided by the Holy Spirit,” he says.

The pope's death comes one day after Francis, 88, greeted Easter Sunday crowds in his popemobile. He had battled a respiratory infection for weeks.