Pope Francis on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, on Easter day, April 20, 2025. (Credit: Andreas Solaro/AFP)
Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and first South American pontiff, died Monday morning at the Vatican at age 88, the Holy See announced, bringing an end to a transformative and turbulent papacy that challenged tradition and pushed the Catholic Church toward social engagement and the world’s peripheries.
“This morning at 7:35, the bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo tasked with overseeing the papal transition, said in a statement. “His entire life was dedicated to serving the Lord and his Church.”
The Argentine pope, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had recently been released from a 38-day hospitalization for bilateral pneumonia — his fourth and longest hospital stay since taking office in 2013. Despite visibly deteriorating health, he presided over Easter celebrations Sunday from a wheelchair, appearing drawn and breathless, able to utter only a few words before delegating the rest to an aide.
A Vatican constitution provides for nine days of funeral rites and the organization of a conclave within 15 to 20 days to elect a new pope. Nearly 80 percent of the cardinal electors who will cast ballots were appointed by Francis himself.
The pontiff had requested burial at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, in central Rome, breaking with centuries of tradition that typically saw popes interred in the crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican in November released new simplified funeral rites, eliminating the centuries-old use of triple coffins in favor of a wooden and zinc casket.
A papacy of reform and resistance
Elected on March 13, 2013, after the resignation of Benedict XVI, Francis became a global moral voice on issues ranging from climate change and migration to economic inequality and interfaith dialogue. His papacy was marked by sweeping attempts to reform the Vatican bureaucracy, clean up Church finances, and extend the Church’s outreach to marginalized communities.
He published major encyclicals, including Laudato si’ in 2015, which sharply criticized environmental destruction and global capitalism. He was a fierce critic of the arms trade, human trafficking, and populist politics, drawing rebukes from conservative factions within the Church and abroad. His condemnation of U.S. migration policies under President Donald Trump triggered anger from Washington.
But Francis maintained a complex balance. He did not change Church doctrine on abortion or priestly celibacy, and many survivors of clerical sexual abuse felt his reforms did not go far enough — even after he lifted the veil of pontifical secrecy and mandated that cases be reported to Church superiors.
His decision in late 2023 to allow blessings for same-sex couples drew praise from progressives and fury from traditionalists, who also bristled at his restrictions on the Latin Mass. Conservative opposition, emboldened by the lingering presence of Benedict XVI in the Vatican until his death in 2022, repeatedly challenged Francis’s leadership, often accusing him of authoritarian governance and doctrinal laxity.
The man behind the pontiff
Born in Buenos Aires in 1936, Francis lost part of his right lung at age 21 due to acute pleurisy. Despite recurring respiratory issues and limited mobility in his later years, he maintained an intense schedule. He shunned the grandeur of the Apostolic Palace, opting for a modest 70-square-meter apartment in the Vatican guesthouse.
He was known for his warmth and unpretentious style — regularly greeting crowds with “buon pranzo” ("enjoy your lunch") on Sundays and riding in a stripped-down popemobile. A lover of tango, classical music and Argentine football, Francis viewed vacations as a waste of time.
In September 2023, at age 86, he embarked on the longest journey of his pontificate — a 12-day visit across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Francis’s vision for a more inclusive, outward-looking Church led him to champion the “peripheries” of the world over traditional centers of influence. He elevated voices from the Global South and emphasized the roles of women and laypeople, though critics say he stopped short of granting real decision-making power.
Legacy in transition
Francis’s final months were clouded by speculation over a possible resignation, especially following two hospitalizations in 2023 and the cancelation of multiple events. His death ends a papacy that simultaneously inspired widespread popular devotion and provoked deep divisions within the Catholic Church’s hierarchy.
In the coming days, the focus will shift to the conclave, where cardinals — many molded in Francis’s image — will choose his successor. Whether they carry forward his agenda or move to reverse it remains an open question in a Church still grappling with the tension between tradition and transformation.
