“Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta,” the Vatican announced Monday.
“At 7.35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was devoted to service to the Lord and His Church,” the Vatican press office reports:
“At 9.47 this morning, His Eminence Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, announced with sorrow the death of Pope Francis, with these words:
“‘Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis.’
“Monday 21 April, at 20.00 [8:00 p.m. Rome time], His Reverend Eminence Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of the certification of death and the laying of the body in the coffin.”
Vatican News provides further details:
“The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, told journalists later on Monday that the late Pope's body could be transferred to St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning, so that the faithful may pray before his mortal remains.
"‘The translation of the Holy Father's mortal remains to the Vatican Basilica, for the veneration of all the faithful, may take place on the morning of Wednesday, April 23, 2025, according to the arrangements that shall be determined and communicated tomorrow, following the first Congregation of the Cardinals,’ Mr. Bruni said.”
Pope Francis had been battling severe respiratory health problems:
“The Pope was admitted to the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital on Friday, February 14, 2025, after suffering from a bout of bronchitis for several days Pope Francis’ clinical situation gradually worsened, and his doctors diagnosed bilateral pneumonia on Tuesday, February 18.”
Pope Francis had requested that the funeral rites be simplified and focused on expressing the faith of the Church in the Risen Body of Christ.
A Jesuit, Francis entered the papacy in 2013, following the resignation of Benedict the XVI. He was the first pope to be born in the Americas.
Despite controversy over some of his more liberal comments, “The Holy Father, however, drew clear lines in the sand on key teaching areas,” The Catholic News Agency reports:
“With the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 2024 document Dignitas Infinita (‘Infinite Dignity’), Francis reaffirmed the Church’s perennial opposition to abortion, euthanasia, and gender ideology. He used a much-publicized CBS “60 Minutes” interview in May 2024 to state again categorically that women’s ordination to the priesthood and the diaconate was off the table.
“By the end, he had disappointed Catholic progressives and many in the secular media who had expected a full-scale doctrinal revolution in the Church rather than the process of pastoral reform he pursued.”
In 2023, Pope Francis approved new, more modest, funeral rights, which include allowing for popes to buried outside the Vatican grottos. According to his wishes, Francis will be buried at Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in Rome.
The National Catholic Register recounts the late pope’s path to the papacy:
“Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and entered the Society of Jesus at age 21. Following his ordination in 1969, he served as a Jesuit provincial, seminary rector, and professor before St. John Paul II appointed him auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992. He became archbishop of the Argentine capital in 1998 and was created cardinal in 2001.”
Pope Francis was responsible for selecting 108 of the 135 cardinals who will now vote for his successor. That process will begin after nine days of mourning following Francis’ funeral.