Pope Francis often remembered a particular confessor who taught him about mercy -- leading him to make mercy a hallmark of his spiritual itinerary and his pontificate.
The confessor was a Capuchin in Buenos Aires, who once came to him when he was bishop there, expressing a conflicted conscience over a worry that perhaps in his many hours of hearing confessions, he sometimes "forgave too much."
The future pope asked the future cardinal what he did in those situations.
As the Pope recalled it, the answer the Capuchin gave went like this:
'I go to our little chapel, in front of the tabernacle and say to Jesus: 'Lord, forgive me because I have forgiven too much. But it was you who gave me the bad example!'" This, I will never forget. When a priest lives mercy on himself like this, he can give it to others."
This Capuchin Cardinal, Cardinal Luis Pascual Dri, has passed away in Buenos Aires at the age of 98. His funeral will be today, July 2, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, where he lived in retirement since 2007. Surely he and the Pope who loved and admired him are now before the throne of the God "whose name is Mercy."
Pope Leo, through his Secretary of State, sent condolences to the archbishop of Buenos Aires, the Capuchins, and all who mourn the cardinal. The Holy Father spoke of him as a "selfless pastor who was so dear to Pope Francis and who for so many years gave his life in the service of God and the Church as confessor and spiritual director." He assured his fervent prayers for his eternal rest, "that the Lord Jesus may grant him the crown of glory that never fades."
No studies, but life has taught me a lot ....
The cardinal once spoke of his friendship with Pope Francis, and his naming him cardinal.
I must thank the Pope very much for this trust he has placed in me, because I do not deserve it. I am not a person, a priest, a friar, who has done studies, I have no doctorate, I have nothing. But life has taught me a lot, life has marked me, and since I was born very poor, I feel I must always have a word of mercy, of help, of closeness, for anyone who comes here. No one should leave thinking they have not been understood or despised or rejected.
Luis Pascual entered the Capuchin seminary in January 1938, at the age of 11, and took the Capuchin habit on February 21, 1945. On March 29, 1952, he was ordained a priest in Montevideo.
Pope Francis chose him to be a cardinal in the consistory of September 30, 2023 — the same as that of Robert Prevost, the current pope.
Vatican News has shared various reflections on the Cardinal:
Born in Federación, Argentina, on April 17, 1927, and a Capuchin since 1945, Cardinal Dri came from a deeply religious family — eight of nine siblings entered religious life. His ministry included years as a missionary and spiritual guide, shaped by the examples of Padre Pio and Saint Leopold Mandić.
Though unable to attend the 2023 Consistory in Rome due to his health, he received the cardinal’s biretta and ring in Buenos Aires. He was assigned the title of Cardinal-Deacon of Sant’Angelo in Pescheria.
Speaking to Vatican media at the time, he described the appointment not as a reward but as a “gesture of tenderness” from the Pope.
"As much a sinner as those who come to me"
Even after receiving the red hat, Cardinal Dri continued his daily rhythm of confession and prayer. “I am as much a sinner as those who come to me,” he often said, emphasising mercy rooted in personal humility and hours spent in prayer before the Tabernacle.
Pope Francis had publicly spoken of Dri on several occasions, including in his 2014 book The Name of God is Mercy and during meetings with priests and confessors. In 2017, he gave clergy in Rome a biography of the friar titled Don’t Be Afraid to Forgive, highlighting Dri’s example of pastoral compassion.
On another occasion, Vatican News recalled:
Pope Francis spoke of him several times.
The first time was on 6 March 2014, when he met the parish priests of Rome. He repeated the example a few months later, on 11 May 2014 in the during his homily for the Mass for priestly ordinations. He returned to cite him in the book-interview "The Name of God is Mercy", then did so once again in February 2016 during the homily in St Peter's with the Capuchin friars, and in the recent meeting with the priests of Rome at St. John Lateran and with the Jubilee confessors. [...]
The Pope recalled:
Seven years ago, we went to look for him at the shrine dedicated to the Virgin of Pompei in Buenos Aires. There were very few people, it was a rather sultry afternoon. Only one confessional was open, a monk in a Capuchin habit was waiting inside, among white soundproofing panels resembling those of an old radio studio. It was him.
The cardinal had simple advice for his fellow priests.
The friar who spends every morning and every afternoon in the confessional, continuing "until the candles are consumed," had no particular advice to give his "fellow" confessors: "What the Pope says. I cannot say anything else, because I feel it, because I live it. Mercy, understanding, putting one's whole life into listening, to understand, to be able to put oneself in the other person's skin, to understand what is happening. We must not be, starting with myself, officials who just do something: 'Yes, I gave him absolution. 'Yes, no, and that's it.' Quite the opposite.
"'I think we must have a certain closeness, a special amiability, because sometimes there are people who don't know very well what confession is. 'Don't be frightened, don't worry'. Confession... the only thing it takes is the desire to be better, nothing else. You don't have to think with whom, or how many times, or that or the other. All these things don't help. I feel like they push the person away. And I have to make people come closer to God, to Jesus."
While to penitents, the friar who will now wear the red hat, always gave this advice: 'Do not be afraid. I always show this image, this picture representing the Father's embrace of the Prodigal Son. Because they ask me: 'But will God forgive me?'... God embraces you, God loves you, God walks with you, God came to forgive, not to chastise, He came to be with us, He left heaven to be with us. So how can we be afraid! It seems to me almost an absurdity, an ignorance, a wrong idea, about our Father God'.
The confessor, now Cardinal-elect, is a figure reminiscent of Father Leopoldo Mandic, who had the same attitude with people in the confessional. "Yes, yes, I know him well; I read his life and learnt a lot from him," Father Dri confided.
"I also learnt from Father Pio: I was with him in 1960. And all this taught me a lot. I was with Padre Pio, I went to confession with him, I was in the same convent in 1960. St Leopold and St Pio taught me so much, so many beautiful things about mercy, love, peace, tranquillity, closeness. Although Padre Pio was so strong, so energetic, when he had to listen and forgive, he was Jesus.'
