The first pontiff from Latin America, Pope Francis, who charmed the world with his simple ways and concern for the poor, has died. The announcement to that effect was made on Monday by the Vatican. He would have turned 89 in December. The pope had several ailments in his work of 12 years as pope and had only recently survived a fairly serious bout of double pneumonia.
“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican’s TV channel.
“At 7:35 (5:35 GMT) this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father…His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His church.” Follow Pope Francis death live updates here
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, just a day after thrilling the throng of the faithful with his public appearance from the balcony at Saint Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday.
The pontiff became a pope in 2013 after his predecessor Benedict XVI resigned.
Recent Hospitalisation
The Pope was hospitalized for bronchitis treatment on February 14. Several days passed, and the Vatican reported that the Pope was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and was in “critical condition” and showed “initial, mild” signs of kidney failure.
However, the next five weeks saw a marked improvement in his condition, and on March 23, he made his first public appearance in more than a month on a balcony of the hospital and gave a thumbs-up to the crowds gathered outside.
Then returned to the Vatican to begin two months of required rest and recovery.
On April 19, Pope Francis met US Vice President JD Vance. A day after that, he addressed the crowds at the Easter Sunday Service.
Earlier, Pope Francis had been hospitalized for a respiratory infection back in March 2023. He underwent a hernia surgery that same year and had an operation in 2021 to remove a part of his colon. He also had a part of his lung removed when he was a young man.
Pope Francis had knee pain that required him to use a wheelchair and fell twice in the past few months.
Burial
This burial would mark the first time in more than a hundred years that a pope would be laid to rest outside Vatican walls; the pope had wished to be buried not in the Basilica of St Peter in Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica.
Even though he rejected the papal tradition of three coffins, he would be buried with only one made of wood and zinc, as a symbol of his humility as pastor.
The Heritage
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Argentina, becoming the first Jesuit to lead nearly 1.4 billion Catholics in this world and the first from America. He was elected as pope on March 13, 2013, when he was 76 years old, catching many observers of the Church by surprise because he was regarded mainly as an outsider: the Argentine cleric.
Francis also inherited the Church under sharp public scrutiny, both by child sex abuse allegations and civil unrest caused by tussles in the Vactican bureaucracy. He had been working on making it more open and compassionate to the community.
During his papacy, Francis faced criticism from conservatives and progressives alike. While conservatives accused him of trashing cherished traditions, progressives felt he should have done much more to reshape the 2,000-year-old Church.
While battling dissent, he remains a strong defender of social justice, rights of migrants and environmental issues, and addresses the scourge of clerical child sex abuse.
In 12 years, he has restructured the bureaucracy of the Vatican, produced four major documents of teaching, visited more than 65 nations on 47 foreign trips, and canonized 900 saints. He had also called five major Vatican assemblies of the world’s Catholic bishops to discuss controversial issues such as women’s ordination and a change in the Church’s sexual teachings.
Francis was said to be opening the rather staid global Church to the modern world. Among major decisions, he had allowed priests to bless same-sex couples on an individual basis and appointed women to the first Vatican office leaderships.
The Conclave
This event will put in motion several old traditions that would eventually end with the holding of a conclave of cardinals-therefore this will be the event of the selection of his successor. Such usually takes place within the period of 15 to 20 days after the death of the pontiff.
Up until then, daily affairs of the tiny city-state will be run by the camerlengo, currently Dublin-born Kevin Farrell, who is a senior cardinal.
From around the world, Francis collected tributes. Many leaders praised him with much humility. From the neighbouring country Brazil, Argentina ordered seven days of mourning.
“He left us the pope of the marginalized, the pope of the poor,” said Jorge Garcia Cuerva, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, a position Francis once held.
On Sunday, Francis made his first public appearance with relative duration after he had been discharged from the hospital and spent thirty-eight days receiving treatment for pneumonia. Occasionally, he waved at observers, exchanged pleasantries with an infant brought to him.
In an Easter Sunday message read out loud by an aide while the pope looked on from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he reiterated his demand for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a conflict he raged against long before. The Vatican, locals and tourists were mourning and edifying pilgrims who had come to visit with them during this Easter.
“This is really something that hits you hard,” said Emanuela Tinari, who lives in Rome. “He was a pope who brought so many people closer to the church. He was not appreciated by everyone. But he definitely was by ordinary people.”
FINAL MEETINGS
Doctors had recommended two months of rest after the pontiff’s last visit to the hospital a month ago but he made appearances on several occasions including a meeting with King Charles of Britain in April and a brief visit on Sunday with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who is visiting.
World leaders paid homage to the pontiff, praised his efforts to reform the worldwide church, and sent condolences to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
“Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him,” said U.S. President Donald Trump, who, the pope, had previously told off, particularly for his hardline stance on immigration.
The Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni mourned the departure of “a great man, a great shepherd.”
Outspoken president of Argentina, Javier Milei, has had skirmishes with the pope in the past, once calling him the devil’s representative on earth. He changed his tune, however, when he took office in 2023 and so mourned his demise on Monday.
“Despite differences that seem minor today, having been able to know him in his goodness and wisdom was a true honor for me,” Milei said on X.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed Francis as an outstanding man, the Kremlin said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he knew how to build unity and give hope.
FUTURE CONCLAVE
Death of a pontiff does not mean instant conclave but will mean at least 15 to 20 days wait before a new pope is elected. Intriguingly, around 135 cardinals would take part in this top-secret ballot that could stretch out over days. There is no leading candidate at the moment for Francis’ successor.
Originally Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentine cleric had managed to surprise many Church-watchers who thought he was an outsider when elected by papal election on March 13, 2013.
He projected simplicity into the grandeur of the huge role, did not take possession of the papal apartments, old and intricate, in the Apostolic Palace occupied by his predecessors, on the grounds that he preferred community to “psychological health” living.
He made internal changes to the Vatican, underscoring transparency and accountability in financial reform, and appointed more women to senior posts in it.
For this, many believed that Francis was a disorganized leader, sometimes catching Vatican officials unawares with his spontaneous comments.
He found it difficult to wrangle out with the crisis in terms of sexual abuse and to inherit his portion of a Church torn by in-fighting in the Vatican bureaucracy, and elected with clear popular mandate to restore order.
But criticism faced him from the conservatives as his papacy moved on, levels of accusations that he was trashing the old cherished traditions. He was also condemned by the progressives, who felt he should change the 2,000-year-old Church a little more.The crowds that Francis packed in during foreign travels to advertise interfaith dialogue and peace while siding with the marginalized-from migrants-continued to swell.
Thus, for much of Francis’ pontificate, there were two men in white in the Vatican, since his predecessor Benedict preferred to live within the Holy See after his surprise resignation in 2013. The Conservative Cause’s beloved died in December 2022.
Almost 80% of the electors who will elect the next pope were appointed by Francis himself, meaning that his successor will most likely carry on his progressive policies, despite the pushback from traditionalists.
The Holy See announced that a ceremony which had been planned for Sunday, 27 April, during which Carlo Acutis was to become the first Catholic saint of the millennial generation, should be postponed.
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