Sen. Mike Rounds to Attend Pope Francis’ Funeral as Part of U.S. Delegation
By Todd Epp, Northern Plains News
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) will join a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers traveling to Rome this Saturday for Pope Francis’s funeral.
Rounds is one of four U.S. senators in a group led by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). The Senate delegation also includes Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Eric Schmitt (R-MO). A separate House delegation led by Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) will also attend, bringing the total number of U.S. lawmakers to 15.
Pope Francis died at age 88 on Easter Monday after a stroke. Tens of thousands of mourners have lined up to view his body lying in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of Saturday’s service. Francis was the first pontiff to address a joint session of Congress in 2015, an event Rounds attended.
In an interview with Dakota News Now, Rounds reflected on Pope Francis’ legacy, describing him as “very, very humble” and “a great example for people around the world about what it means to be a Christian.” Rounds also noted the Pope’s habit of responding to prayer requests by saying, “Please pray for me.”
Rounds is a lifelong Catholic and a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Pierre, and a member of the Knights of Columbus.
Catholics in South Dakota
According to the 2010 U.S. Religion Census, there were 148,883 Catholics in South Dakota, making Catholicism the largest single religious denomination in the state at that time. Recent estimates suggest Catholics remain one of the state’s largest faith groups.
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