The Vatican announced today that Pope Francis has passed away at the age of 88. Due to an illness that progressed into pneumonia in both lungs, the Pope spent his final weeks in the hospital.
It will take at least 15 days until the Conclave, where the Cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel to choose his successor. Unlike most of his predecessors, Pope Francis will be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in the Esquilino district of Rome, after his body is placed in state at St. Peter’s Basilica for an official period of mourning.
Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis welcomed Catholic faithful who gathered to see him in St. Peter’s Square. After the high holiday service, he gave his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ blessing from a balcony overlooking the Piazza.
US Vice President JD Vance, who was spending Easter in Rome with his family, had a brief meeting with the Pope on his way to the basilica. The Vatican described the meeting as ‘brief,’ lasting only a few minutes.
Pope Francis was selected to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who retired, making him the first non-European pope in 1,300 years. He maintained a hectic schedule until his final weeks, despite several health issues and limited mobility due in part to his advancing age and swollen waist.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis will be remembered for his liberal views on several issues, which made him both well-liked and divisive. He made environmental concerns a central focus of his papacy, showed tolerance for divorcees, and allowed priests to bless same-sex couples in some circumstances.
In 2023, Pope Francis stated that transgender individuals could be baptized as long as it did not cause confusion or controversy. However, he maintained his firm stance on abortion, calling it “an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense.”
Pope Francis spent Easter Sunday blessing a large crowd in St. Peter’s Square, surprising the faithful with a ride in his popemobile through the piazza. His actions drew enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
In his later years, Pope Francis’ health was notably fragile, with weight gain and a reliance on a wheelchair. Despite these challenges, he continued his papal duties. His last major international trip was in September 2024, when he visited Southeast Asia and Oceania, where he led one of the largest crowds of his pontificate with 600,000 people gathered in Timor-Leste.
Pope Francis had a complicated relationship with some political figures, particularly criticizing the Trump administration’s handling of migrant issues. He also made strong statements about the importance of respecting the dignity of migrants, which contrasted with the actions of some governments.
At the start of 2023, Pope Francis was hospitalized for pneumonia and had several other health complications throughout the year, including surgery for an abdominal hernia.
In his early years as a priest, he had a romantic relationship with a woman named Amalia Damonte, whom he proposed to despite their families’ disapproval. When she rejected his proposal, he chose to become a priest. After a period of service, he became a cardinal in 2001 and was elected Pope in 2013 following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.