Pope Francis died on Easter Monday on the age of 88.
“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow, I need to announce the demise of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell introduced on Monday.
“At 7:35 this morning [05:35 GMT], the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His whole life was devoted to the service of the Lord and of His Church,” he mentioned.
Here’s what we all know concerning the demise of the Argentinian pontiff, the primary in historical past from Latin America, who led the Catholic Church for greater than 12 years.
How did the pope die?
Pope Francis died of a stroke adopted by a coma and coronary heart failure on Monday morning, the Vatican’s press workplace mentioned in a press release.
The pope has additionally suffered a “earlier episode of acute respiratory failure”, arterial hypertension and kind II diabetes, the assertion mentioned.
Farrell made the announcement at 9:47am (07:47 GMT), about two hours after Francis died. Farrell spoke from Domus Santa Marta, the house on Vatican grounds the place Francis lived and the place he had returned to get well after a hospitalisation for double pneumonia in February.
Within the coming weeks, Farrell will play an essential function, overseeing the administration of the Holy See till a brand new pope is chosen.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra seal the doorways of the papal house within the Apostolic Palace and the door to the house of the Casa Santa Marta, the place the late Pope Francis lived.
The ceremony of the certification of demise and… pic.twitter.com/PP6j4SbqPr
— Vatican Information (@VaticanNews) April 21, 2025
What had been Pope Francis’s well being issues?
The pope was hospitalised for 5 weeks in February-March, initially affected by a extreme respiratory insufficiency from viral and bacterial infections. He had typically struggled with bronchitis throughout winter.
He was subsequently recognized with a polymicrobial an infection, which developed to pneumonia in each lungs. Francis got here near demise throughout his hospitalisation, in accordance with his medical crew.
He was additionally handled for an asthmatic respiratory episode, early-stage kidney failure, and a bronchial spasm that led him to aspirate vomit following a extreme coughing match.
He obtained noninvasive mechanical air flow at night time and high-flow oxygen remedy throughout the day.
His docs had mentioned the pope was so critically in poor health that the employees thought-about stopping his therapy so he might die.
“We had to decide on whether or not to cease [treatment] and let him go, or push ahead and take a look at [to save him] with all of the medicine and therapies doable, operating the very excessive threat of damaging different organs. Ultimately, we took this path,” Sergio Alfieri, a basic surgeon at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, mentioned in an interview just lately.
In keeping with Alfieri, it was the pope’s private nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, who urged the medical crew to stick with therapy, saying, “Strive all the things – don’t quit.”
His situation stabilised, and the pontiff continued his restoration at his residence. He made a number of public appearances over the previous week, however his weak voice served as a reminder of his frailty.
How did Pope Francis spend his remaining days?
Medical doctors at Gemelli Hospital prescribed him a routine of full relaxation.
After 38 days in hospital, the pope was discharged on March 23. He returned to his residence on the Casa Santa Marta.
With Easter simply three weeks away, the pope’s schedule grew more and more demanding.
On April 9, he met King Charles of the UK and Queen Camilla on the Casa Santa Marta. This assembly coincided with their twentieth wedding ceremony anniversary throughout their state go to to Italy.
The viewers was organized on the final minute, following the postponement of a deliberate formal state go to because of the pope’s well being points.
On April 17, Holy Thursday, a big day within the Catholic calendar commemorating the Final Supper of Jesus Christ, Francis visited Rome’s Regina Coeli, the place he met with some 70 inmates.
In previous years, he had washed the toes of prisoners, echoing Jesus’s gesture along with his disciples on the eve of his demise. This time, nevertheless, the Vatican mentioned he apologised for being unable to carry out the ritual. As a substitute, he supplied them rosaries and pocket-sized Gospels as presents.
4 days later, on April 20, Francis obtained United States Vice President JD Vance at his residence.
“I do know you haven’t been feeling nice, however it’s good to see you in higher well being,” Vance mentioned. “Thanks for seeing me.”
The assembly got here because the pope and Vatican officers have criticised a number of of President Donald Trump’s insurance policies, notably his efforts to deport migrants.
Francis has denounced the immigration crackdown as a “shame”. In the meantime, Vance, who transformed to Catholicism in 2019, has defended the coverage by referencing his interpretation of Catholic teachings from the medieval period.
It was the pope’s final diplomatic assembly.
Later that day, he delivered the normal Urbi et Orbi blessing, Latin for “to the town and the world”, earlier than 1000’s of Catholic pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Sq. for the Vatican’s open-air Easter Sunday Mass.
Throughout this time, the pope condemned the “deplorable humanitarian state of affairs” brought on by Israel’s 18 months of war on the Palestinian territory. He additionally referred to as for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Then, to everybody’s shock, he made his means all the way down to Saint Peter’s Sq., using via the crowds within the open-top Popemobile – the long-lasting white Mercedes-Benz utilized by popes to greet the trustworthy.
Close to the top of his remaining tour of the sq., a number of kids had been lifted in direction of him.
It could be the final time the world noticed him alive. He died the subsequent morning.
