Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies on Easter Monday at 88 of stroke and heart failure
Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said on Monday, ending an often turbulent reign marked by division and tension as he sought to overhaul the hidebound institution.
He was 88, and had suffered a serious bout of double pneumonia this year, but his death came as a shock after he had been driven around St. Peter’s Square in an open-air popemobile to greet cheering crowds on Easter Sunday.
“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 (10:35am PKT) this morning the bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”
Francis died of a stroke and irreversible heart failure, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli said in a death certificate released today.
The certificate, which was published by the Vatican, said the pope had fallen into a coma before his death early today.
Francis confirmed in his final testament that he wished to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Major and not at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, unlike many previous pontiffs.
The Vatican released his final testament in the evening. The text specified that Francis wanted to be buried “in the ground, without particular decoration” but with the inscription of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.
On Sunday, Francis had made his first prolonged public appearance since being discharged on March 23 from a 38-day hospital stay for pneumonia.
In an Easter Sunday message read aloud by an aide as the pope looked on from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the pontiff had reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Before the five-week hospital stay, which nearly killed him, Francis had been ramping up criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave “very serious and shameful” in January.
At the Vatican, tourists and pilgrims visiting for Easter expressed their shock and grief.
“This is something that really hits you hard,” said Emanuela Tinari, from 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.”
Pope Francis’ body will be laid in a coffin in the chapel at the Saint Martha residence, where he lived at 8pm (11pm PKT) on Monday, the Vatican said.
“Tonight, Monday, April 21 at 8pm (11pm PKT), His Eminence the Most Reverend Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of certification of death and the laying of the body in the coffin,” the Holy See said in a statement.
The Vatican said a ceremony planned for April 27, when Carlo Acutis was to become the first Catholic saint of the millennial generation, had been postponed.
Spain will observe three days of mourning to honour Pope Francis after the Argentine pontiff’s death, Justice Minister Felix Bolanos said in a televised address.
“We regret the death of a good man and a great pope. Therefore, the government of Spain will declare three days of official mourning,” Bolanos said, praising Francis’s “reformist” 12-year papacy that “will leave a legacy for history”.
Francis “dedicated his life to the weak, to those who have nothing … a pope characterised by his struggle against inequality, injustices, his fight against climate change and his concern for all those on the peripheries”, added Bolanos.
“For that reason, the government of Spain has always felt close to his work and his values, especially his defence of peace,” the Socialist minister continued.
In Spain, historically a deeply Catholic country, “we loved him and what his papacy meant”, said Bolanos.
“With his papacy the Church has started to travel a path which must continue.”
The pope had also held a brief meeting on Sunday with visiting US Vice President JD Vance.
“My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” Vance said on X.
Other world leaders were reacting to the pope’s death with praise for his efforts to reform the worldwide church and offering condolences to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni mourned the departure of “a great man, a great shepherd”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “He inspired millions, far beyond the Catholic Church, with his humility and love so pure for the less fortunate.”
Jose Ramos-Horta, the president of East Timor, where Francis visited in September 2024 as part of the longest foreign trip of his papacy, said the pope “leaves behind a profound legacy of humanity, of justice, of human fraternity”.
12-year papacy
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, surprising many church watchers who had seen the Argentine cleric, known for his concern for the poor, as an outsider.
He sought to project simplicity into the grand role and never took possession of the ornate papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, saying he preferred to live in a community setting for his “psychological health”.
He inherited a church under attack over a child sex abuse scandal and torn by infighting in the Vatican bureaucracy, and was elected with a clear mandate to restore order.
But as his papacy progressed, he faced fierce criticism from conservatives, who accused him of trashing cherished traditions. He also drew the ire of progressives, who felt he should have done much more to reshape the 2,000-year-old church.
While he struggled with internal dissent, Francis became a global superstar, drawing huge crowds on his many foreign travels as he tirelessly promoted interfaith dialogue and peace, taking the side of the marginalised, such as migrants.
Unique in modern times, there were two men wearing white in the Vatican for much of Francis’ rule, with his predecessor Benedict opting to continue to live in the Holy See after his shock resignation in 2013 had opened the way for a new pontiff.
Benedict, a hero of the conservative cause, died in December 2022.
Francis appointed nearly 80 per cent of the cardinal electors who will choose the next pope, increasing the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies, despite the strong pushback from traditionalists.
The bells at Paris’s Notre-Dame cathedral rang out 88 times on Monday in honour of Pope Francis, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
The “88 rings for 88 years of life” were to be followed by a full ringing of the cathedral’s bells before a noon mass in Francis’s honour, followed by another in early evening, according to the Notre-Dame press office.
Condolences pour in
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep sorrow over the death of Pope Francis and paid tribute to the late pope’s commitment to interfaith harmony, compassion and peaceful coexistence.
The president extended his condolences on behalf of the government and the people of Pakistan to the Vatican and the entire Catholic community on the sad demise.
While paying tribute to his services, the president said that Pope Francis would be remembered for his efforts in promoting peace, social justice, inter-faith dialogue, and the well-being of the most vulnerable communities worldwide.
He remarked that Pope Francis was a powerful voice for peace and justice, and his efforts to bring together communities of different faiths and promote mutual understanding would always be remembered.
The president termed the Pope’s passing as a great loss not only for Christians but for all those who valued peace and dialogue among religions.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed his condolences on the pope’s passing.
“Late Pope Francis was a symbol of inter-faith harmony, peace, and humanity,” the prime minister said, adding that under the pope’s leadership, the Catholic Church spread the message of affection, tolerance, and mutual respect worldwide.
“Pope Francis’ recent statement on Easter calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Palestine, and an end to the human rights violation, reflects his peace-loving personality and love for humanity,” the prime minister added.
The White House, expressing its condolences, wrote on X: “Rest in Peace, Pope Francis.”
The message was accompanied by photos of the pontiff meeting US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on separate occasions.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis had always sided with the most vulnerable and the most fragile, and that he did this with a lot of humility.
“In this time of war and brutality, he had a sense for the other, for the most fragile,” Macron told reporters.
Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz said in a post on X that Pope Francis would be remembered for his tireless commitment to society’s weakest members.
“He was guided by humility and faith in God’s mercy,” Merz said in the post.
Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin hailed Pope Francis’s solidarity with the “poor, the marginalised, and the oppressed.”
“Pope Francis’ long and distinguished papacy was marked by his unwavering commitment to the principles of compassion, peace and human dignity”, said Martin, adding that he would be remembered for his “expression of pain and shame” about historic child abuses in the Catholic Church during his 2018 visit to Ireland.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai expressed hope that “his compassion and his efforts to draw the world’s attention to the needs of the poor and powerless” would continue to inspire people.
Additional input from APP.