“Very sad,” Fasinski said. “He had done a lot for the church. He paved the way and showed a new side of the church, especially with social justice. Everyone in the church will be feeling very deeply today.” Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be leading a special Mass at noon Monday at the Cathedral of St. Paul, at 239 Selby Av. The Mass will be the first of the traditional nine offered for the repose of his soul. “It is with profound sadness that I learned this morning of the death of our Holy Father, Pope Francis,” the archbishop said in a statement. “Along with Catholics and men and women of good will throughout the world, I gave thanks to Almighty God for his life and example, and I pray with Easter hope for the repose of his soul. “I will always be grateful to Pope Francis for assigning me to serve as the archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. I have fond memories this day of all the times that he assured me of his prayers for this Archdiocese,” Hebda added. Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in southeastern Minnesota remembered Francis as a “man of simplicity, compassion and deep concern for those on the margins” of society. He asked for prayers for the cardinals who will gather soon to choose Francis’ successor. Michael Patella, a Benedictine monk and former rector of the seminary at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville in central Minnesota, talked about the power of the pope’s messages.