Noon Mass for Pope Francis set today in Tucson

A Mass will be held at noon today in Tucson for Pope Francis.

The Mass will we held at St. Augustine Cathedral downtown.

The bells at the Catherdral also are set to ring 88 times today, one time for each year the pope lived, Rev. Gerald Kicanas said in a statement Monday.

Kicanas came out of retirement to serve as apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Tucson after Pope Francis reassigned Edward J. Weisenburger to serve as archbishop of Detroit earlier this year.

“It is with profound sadness, yet with Easter joy that we received word this morning of the death of Pope Francis. He believed wholeheartedly in the Lord’s promise that we will rise with Him on the last day,” Kicanas said in a statement issued today by te diocese. “As Francis approached the Lord, there is no doubt he was received with open arms and heard the Lord’s words, ‘welcome good and faithful servant,'”

Pope Francis died Monday at age 88.

The Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the first Latin American pontiff.

Bells tolled in church towers across Rome on Monday after the announcement.