MARSHALL — The death of Pope Francis brought a mix of emotions, southwest Minnesota residents said Monday.

While it was a time of grief, area residents also remembered the Pope’s messages to the Catholic Church about their faith.

“It’s sad, but it’s also an occasion of hope as well — looking forward to the hope of the life Jesus promised,” said the Rev. Shawn Polman. Polman, who grew up in Cottonwood, was part of a group of deacons who got to meet Pope Francis in 2020, as they prepared to be ordained as priests.

“What I remember from that meeting was, he was a very gentle soul, very kind,” Polman said.

In a statement Monday, Bishop Chad W. Zielinski of the Diocese of New Ulm said Pope Francis’ pastoral vision called for making the vulnerable and neglected a top concern.

“He passionately reminded Church leaders, the faithful of God, and the entire world never to forget those on the peripheries,” Zielinski said. “He challenged us to be ‘shepherds living with the smell of the sheep.’ I immediately identified with his invitation as one who grew up on a small family farm where we raised a few sheep.”

Zielinski said Pope Francis’ vision of the Catholic Church as a field hospital serving the suffering also resonated with him, as a person who had served combat tours as a military chaplain.

“The Holy Father repeated on many occasions that we are missionary disciples of mercy and forgiveness,” he said.

“I had the honor of meeting Pope Francis in 2015, 2016, and 2020. He exuded a profound joy, compassion and love of the Lord,” Zielinski said. “These personal encounters, his preaching, and his witness have transformed me as a bishop to be an ambassador of mercy.”

Pope Francis’ presence and leadership had an impact for southwest Minnesota residents.

Polman said Pope Francis was approachable and relatable.

“He had that gift, to reach people,” he said. “He always encouraged the church, the priests, the bishops, to go to the margins of society.”

Lisa Kremer, an Iona area resident, was part of a group of people who briefly got to meet Pope Francis in 2014.

“It was pretty incredible. It was one of the greatest honors of my life,” Kremer said.

At the time, Kremer was working with immigrant families at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Worthington. In 2013, she was part of a project that helped children born in the U.S. visit their extended families in Guatemala. They were joined by filmmakers led by Luis Argueta, who made a documentary of the trip called “Abrazos.”

Argueta and Kremer were later invited to come to Rome as guests of the Guatemalan ambassador to the Vatican. They got to briefly meet the Pope, and Kremer presented him with a book of letters from children in Worthington.

“There was an immediate sense of what a compassionate person he was,” Kremer said of Pope Francis.

At the end of the short meeting, she said, “I remember thinking, ‘Don’t go yet.’ ”

Marshall residents Meredith and Isaac Callens attended a papal audience in Rome during their honeymoon in 2024. The Callens were seated in a special “newlyweds section,” where Pope Francis blessed each of the couples present, Meredith Callens said.

“It was very special. It was wonderful to briefly get to meet the Holy Father,” she said. Pope Francis was kind and charming as he met with people, Callens said. “You could definitely tell he was ‘the people’s pope.'”

As Pope, Francis spread messages of the importance of compassion for others, and the need to care for the Earth, Kremer said. His final Easter message this week was “very appropriate and good for us to hear,” she said.

Callens said Pope Francis also had an affect on Christians as a role model.

“He would always reach out to people to tell them to care for the poor,” and to care for people in their home communities as well, she said. “He was very inspiring to look up to.”

The Minnesotans sharing memories of Pope Francis on Monday included U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar. In a statement released Monday, Klobuchar said Pope Francis led the Catholic Church “with humility and hope.”

“He encouraged each and every one of us to consider our responsibility to uplift those most in need,” Klobuchar said. “He did not just preach that value, he lived it. When I visited Vatican City in 2014, I saw him address the crowd gathered at St. Peter’s Square where he finished as he always did — by blessing those with disabilities first.”

Klobuchar said she was honored to be part of the escort committee that brought the Pope around the U.S. Capitol when he addressed Congress in 2015.

“That speech was a resounding call for us to put aside our differences and come together with a renewed spirit of cooperation in pursuit of the common good,” she said. “One moment in particular stood out to me from that day. As the Pope was getting ready to address thousands of people gathered on the Mall, one of the security guards plucked a woman out with her baby, who Pope Francis blessed. He understood that faith exists in the moments big and small.”

On Monday, President Donald Trump ordered U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff in respect in honor of the Pope. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said flags would fly at half-staff at state buildings until sunset on the day of Pope Francis’ interment.

“Pope Francis led by example, centering his life and papacy on being a voice for the less fortunate. He inspired us all to better embody the teachings of Christ: love, compassion, and justice,” Walz said in a statement.