Pope Francis mural in North Philadelphia offers chance to reflect on ‘all he brought to the world’ following his death

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Following Pope Francis’s death Monday, a mural in North Philadelphia honoring his 2015 visit has taken on new meaning becoming a memorial, drawing mourners and faithful alike.

Nearly a decade ago, the pontiff came to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families where thousands of people gathered on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for Mass. His message that day called for unity, love and a deep embrace of family and immigrant traditions.

Cesar Viveros, a Mexican artist who made his home in Philly more than two decades ago, was selected to design the 4,239-square-foot artwork across three walls on Saint Malachy School. He said he wanted to show the “diversity of what we consider family” through his design.

“When people look at this mural right now, they see family, they see union, they see compassion,” Viveros said. “And the message is more than that. Family, whatever it means for everyone, that’s the core of society and that’s where that’s what everything revolves around.”

Mural Arts founder and Executive Director Jane Golden said the piece is “quite universal” and “speaks to us now” almost 10 years later.

“They wanted to unveil the design on the stage the night that [the Pope] spoke to like 800,000 people along the Parkway,” Golden said. “And there we were that night on the stage and suddenly, in front of all these people, the stage goes dark and then this design is illuminated in such a huge way and then it goes out on CNN International, like all over the world they’re like, ‘Here in Philadelphia, the home of 4,000 murals.’ Even now, I’m reliving it.”

Spanning more than 150 panels, the mural unfolds in three sweeping sections that pay tribute to the Pope’s historic visit while symbolizing the Holy Trinity. Families with various backgrounds are also depicted through the piece’s core theme: “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.”

“I think that Cesar’s design in a way reflected not only his love of the Pope and his respect for the Pope, but also his own journey coming to this country and how important it is to be surrounded by love and empathy and respect and an openness and all the things that really the Pope represented,” Golden said.

“Every time I’ve been there this week, there have been other people there,” Golden said. “Yesterday, there were people who came and they were lighting candles in front … I was thinking and reflecting on it and I thought it would be really nice to mark that occasion because of his passing and you feel it’s a way to hold on to him and all he brought to the world and to that moment in Philadelphia.”

The news of the Pope’s death shocked the world, including Viveros, who said it was the first thing he saw on his phone that morning. He said it made him reflect on the Pope’s teachings during his visit about immigration and how it related to him starting his life anew in America.

“It was so hard to start a new life,” Viveros said. “You don’t speak the language. You don’t know the way around … It’s terrifying to start a new life in a foreign country, but you do it because you need to do it. It’s not a luxury …The Pope made emphasis on that, like open your arms, and then just let them be here and they will prove [to] you they come to work. They come to work harder than anybody else because that’s the mentality of immigrants.”

Viveros met Pope Francis on stage on the Parkway, where the pontiff signed a piece of the mural, a moment etched not only in his memory, but in his daughter’s as well.

“Far in the distance I hear this little tiny voice saying ‘Daddy, that’s my daddy, daddy…’ She was so excited looking at me, you know, an immigrant coming with nothing to this country and then making myself a position as a muralist and other kind[s] of media,” Viveros said. “I wanted to believe that I have a voice. Just like everybody else, we should be recognized.”

He said he can look at the mural with a sense of pride having more than 2,700 people work on the piece, which held the Guinness World Record for “Most Contributions to a Painting by Numbers.” The piece also honors his wife, Ana Guissel Palma, who died three years after the mural’s completion.

“I just could see through her eyes that she really enjoyed it,” Viveros said. “She enjoyed it so much because it represents so much about part of the culture where we come from … I hope this mural lasts and speaks to other people too.”