Pope Francis in 2015.
Max Rossi | Reuters
Pope Francis, the Argentine Jesuit who turned the primary Roman Catholic pontiff from the Americas, has died, the Vatican mentioned Monday. He was 88.
In a video handle, Cardinal Kevin Farrell introduced the information. “Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I have to announce the loss of life of our Holy Father Francis,” he mentioned, based on a translation.
“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His complete life was devoted to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to dwell the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, braveness, and common love, particularly in favor of the poorest and the marginalized,” the Cardinal mentioned.
“With immense gratitude for his instance as a real disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the Triune God.”
Francis died at his residence within the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. A day prior he gave his conventional Easter Sunday handle from a wheelchair at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican Metropolis. He additionally met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
The pope had been in in poor health well being since February and was admitted to the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital on Feb. 14, 2025 with bronchitis. On Feb. 21, his medical crew mentioned he was battling pneumonia in each lungs — together with bacterial, viral and fungal infections on high of continual bronchitis.
Francis left hospital and returned to his Vatican residence after 38 days. He’s anticipated to be buried on the Basilica of St. Mary Main in Rome.
Francis’ successor will probably be chosen throughout a conclave, a gathering of the School of Cardinals who’re tasked with electing the subsequent pope.
A pope of firsts
Francis, who was elected the church’s 266th pope after the retirement of Benedict XVI in 2013, was born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio within the middle-class neighborhood of Flores in Buenos Aires on Dec. 17, 1936.
He was the primary Jesuit pope and the primary pope from the Southern Hemisphere. He was the primary particular person from exterior Europe chosen to steer the church in practically 1,300 years, after Pope Gregory III of Syria, who was chosen in 731.
The son of an Italian immigrant father and an Italian Argentine mom, Francis was the eldest of 5 youngsters. As a scholar, he labored as a janitor and nightclub bouncer earlier than turning into a chemical technician.
Francis was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1969 and have become head of the Society of Jesus order in Argentina and Uruguay in 1973 on the youthful age of 36, holding the place till 1979.
Pope John Paul II appointed Francis a bishop in 1992, and 6 years later Francis turned archbishop of Buenos Aires. In 2001 John Paul made him a cardinal.
‘Todos, todos, todos!’
Francis presided over the Catholic Church throughout a time of rising rigidity. In 2021, U.S. bishops drafted a proposal that might have denied communion to newly elected President Joe Biden for his assist of abortion rights. The vote by the U.S. Convention of Catholic Bishops to draft the plan came to visit objections from the pope’s high doctrinal advisor, Cardinal Luis Ladaria.
Greater than two months later, Francis himself strongly hinted his opposition to the proposal by the U.S. bishops, telling reporters: “Communion just isn’t a prize for the right.”
“I’ve by no means refused the eucharist to anybody,” the pope mentioned, calling on bishops to be pastors, not politicians. “What should the pastor do?” he continued. “Be a pastor, do not go condemning. Be a pastor, as a result of he’s a pastor additionally for the excommunicated.”
However he additionally firmly said his opposition to abortion, calling it “murder.” “Whoever has an abortion kills,” he mentioned.
Though Francis strived to keep away from an escalation of the tradition wars and a polarization of his flock, he supplied encouraging phrases to LGBTQ+ Catholics. Whereas flying again to Rome from Portugal in August 2023, he advised reporters that the Catholic Church was open to all and that it has an obligation to accompany folks on their private path of spirituality inside the framework of its guidelines.
Throughout one occasion in Portugal, Francis touted the inclusive nature of the church by main a crowd in a chant of “Todos, todos, todos!” (Everybody, everybody, everybody!).
He capped off 2023 by saying clergymen might bless same-sex {couples}, a main change in Vatican coverage. The pope mentioned such blessings should not resemble marriages, however that folks searching for God’s love and mercy should not be topic to “an exhaustive ethical evaluation” to obtain it.
He additionally needed a better function for ladies within the church, notably in high-ranking Vatican positions. In April 2023, he introduced that he had determined to present girls the best to vote at an upcoming assembly of bishops. It was a historic first and completed two objectives: giving girls better decision-making duties and permitting laypeople extra say within the lifetime of the church.
Well being battles
When Francis was a younger man, he had a part of a lung eliminated due to problems from a pulmonary sickness, a well being subject the Vatican mentioned in 2013 had by no means affected his work.
Lately, he had ongoing well being points, together with numerous respiratory issues, the flu, and a number of surgical procedures.
He was hospitalized for the primary time as pope when he underwent colon surgical procedure on July 4, 2021, at Gemelli hospital for diverticular stenosis. The Vatican mentioned the operation had been deliberate, however the announcement despatched shock waves by means of the church.
He was hospitalized once more in late March 2023 and handled for bronchitis. He quipped to journalists earlier than being pushed away that he was “nonetheless alive.” Simply over two months later, he had surgical procedure to restore a hernia.
