VATICAN – POPE FRANCIS, BORN Jorge Mario Bergoglio, passed away at the age of 88 at 7:35 a.m. on Monday, April 21, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, announced from the Vatican on Monday morning.
The pope had taken steps back from public life following a hospitalization in February for bronchitis and pneumonia; Cardinal Angelo Comastri led the Vatican’s Easter mass on his behalf on Sunday, according to the Associated Press, although Francis afterwards appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to deliver a blessing calling for peace to the gathered crowd, then looped through St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile before retiring.
Condolences poured out from world leaders as the news broke, including from the White House, which on X posted “Rest in Peace, Pope Francis,” and shared photos of Pope Francis meeting with President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. Vance, a convert to Catholicism, was in Rome over the weekend and had briefly met with Francis on Sunday morning before the pope’s appearance at the basilica, the Associated Press reports.
Catholic cardinals from across the world will soon convene in Rome to select a new pope, as the church makes arrangements for Francis’ funeral in the coming days. Francis had earlier directed that his burial arrangements would differ from those of other popes: he will have a simple wooden coffin, emphasizing his dedication to humility and modesty, will have his body displayed in St. Peter’s for public viewing, and will be interred at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a separate church in the heart of Rome, as opposed to St. Peter’s in the Vatican, reports Newsweek.
Francis had struggled throughout his life with respiratory issues after undergoing lung surgery in his early 20s.
Pope Francis, the first pontiff from the Americas, visited NYC in 2015 as part of a lengthy tour.
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