Inside a glass box on a velvet cushion, Pope Francis shoes proved to be an irresistible visual cue for students at St. Genevieve Parish Schools in Panorama City.
The size-42 shoes, once worn by the beloved pontiff himself, were on display Friday at a special memorial mass the school had scheduled for him.
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WATCH HEREBut a closer look revealed something else, said St. Genevieve’s Vice Pres. of Schools Vince O’Donaghue.
“These look like workman shoes," O’Donaghue described. "They look like shoes of a person who’d been out. They’re plain, black shoes.”
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SIGN UP It’s that simplicity and lack of ostentation, O’Donaghue explained, that make them indisputably those of Francis, a pope known for his humble approach to ministry.
“That’s why they say he’s the ‘people's pope.’ He was out with the people and believed with the people. It was really special.”
What's also special is the way the shoes arrived at St. Genevieve.
It was loaned by Noel Diaz, who runs an LA-based Catholic ministry called El Sembrador. Diaz first met Francis in 2016, when he accompanied the pontiff on a trip to Mexico.
During the plane trip, Diaz was struck by the pontiff’s kind and generous spirit and decided to give him a gift.
“Noel grew up in Tijuana, Mexico,” said O’Donaghue, “He shined shoes as a boy, so he presented the pope with a shoe shine box and shined the pope’s shoes.”
After Francis passed away April 21, Diaz was surprised to receive notice from the Vatican that Francis had gifted the very same shoes to him in his will.
Diaz loaned them to the school for their mass, knowing they would help students connect on a different level with the man who wore them.
“The works of mercy, the works of peace are exemplified by the simple 'shoes of a fisherman'”' Francis left behind,” O’Donaghue said. "I think it was greatly symbolic of Pope Francis.”
Papal shoes hold great symbolic importance in Catholicism, dating back to St. Peter. Biblical teachings encourage all Christians to become “fishers of men," encouraging others to embrace the faith, a mission to which Francis devoted most of his life.
