The Bakersfield community gathered at Saint Francis Church to honor Pope Francis after his death on Monday. Father Theophane Antony led a special Mass and prayer service in remembrance.

Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 88, seemed to embody not the church that existed but the church that wayward Catholics like me could admire. And that was no small feat.

A photo of Pope Francis, who died early Monday morning, adorns a wall outside the parish hall at St. Francis Church, where parishioners gathered to hear a mid-day mass.

Catholics here in Iowa are in mourning Monday after the death of Pope Francis.KCCI's Olivia Tyler spoke Monday with churchgoers at St. Francis of Assisi Church in West Des Moines.