Pope Francis 1936-2025

The death of Pope Francis was announced at 9:35 am (Rome time; 3:35 am Eastern Time). Learn about the rituals and timeline that now begins with a novena for Pope Francis.

Table of Contents

Pope Francis

“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.” — Cardinal Kevin Farrell

Despite the fact that Pope Francis had been seriously ill and in the hospital, his death today came as a bit of a surprise. Just yesterday he blessed the people in Saint Peter’s Square, and in a way that was typical for the pontiff, his final public appearance featured a ride around the square to greet people and bless them.

Pope Francis was a pope of the people. Just moments after his election as pope, simplicity was to mark his pontificate. He did not keep many of the trappings of the papacy, opting instead to send a message about the need for the pope (and the Church) to express special closeness to the poor and marginalized.

He rode the bus with the cardinals after being elected pope. He paid his bill at Casa Santa Marta. He made that residence his living place instead of the Papal apartments. His first days witnessed to simplicity. He hugged a man whose face was covered in tumors. He washed and kissed the feet of prisoners on Holy Thursday.

While like his predecessors who wrote about Catholic Social Teaching, it was Pope Francis who reintroduced a lot of Catholics to the ideas behind it. He established a new style. Portable restrooms were brought to St. Peter’s Square. He took in refugees at the Vatican. He celebrated his birthday with the homeless. He wanted the leaders of the Church to “smell like the sheep.”

Actions like this made an impact on me. And they made an impact on many. He wrote about the need to protect the environment in Laudato Si, and the power of relationship in Fratelli Tutti. And his actions matched his words.

If Pope John Paul II realized the importance of travel, Pope Francis realized the power of image. He was comfortable in the modern format of press conferences on planes. He encouraged the Church to be a field hospital.

When asked shortly after his election as pope, “Who is Jorge Borgoglio?” he responded, “I do not know what might be the most fitting description.— I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”

And in his governance of the Church, Pope Francis chose cardinals who represented a much broader representation of the Church. A cardinal in Port-au-Prince, the apostolic nuncio to Syria, and the auxiliary bishop in San Salvador.

And these types of things created controversy. Some claimed he was not pope because he resigned, despite Canon 187 in the code approved by Saint John Paul II. “Can. 187 Anyone responsible for oneself (sui compos) can resign from an ecclesiastical office for a just cause.” Almost immediately Cardinal Raymond Burke became the face of the opposition.

To be sure, there were times Pope Francis probably could have been clearer in what he said. But in many ways he became pope in a crisis. The Vatican was dealing with major failings on multiple fronts. There was the sexual abuse crisis, and the revelations that abuse in the Church reached every aspect of the world.

There were the revelations in a book written by an Italian journalist that arose from letters shared by a butler between Pope Benedict and his private secretary. The butler of Pope Benedict was convicted of theft.

And so one focus of Pope Francis was the restructuring aspects of the structure of the Vatican to promote more transparency. He created a council of cardinals to advise him. He focused on cleaning up issues related to the Vatican Bank.

Pope Francis focused more on the two great commandments of loving God and loving neighbor. He brought greater attention to the needs of the poor and marginalized. He spoke in many ways about the poor South of the world. His core message was to the broken.

Against the advice of some advisors, Pope Francis traveled to Bangui, in the Central African Republic in 2015. Appealing for peace in a country in the midst of great violence, Pope Francis appeared with Muslim leaders as well.

I know there was opposition to Pope Francis. But I am a papist. I think we have been on a very good run of popes. In the modern age, I think we have had holy men who while different, served faithfully the office of the papacy.

There will be a lot of articles that try to frame this time in the Church in political terms. There will be ink spilled on who are the likely frontrunners to be the next pope. Cardinals will be described in political terms as conservative and liberal.

But this misses the point. For Catholics the election of a pope is ultimately about cardinals making a solemn pledge as they cast their vote. “I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected.“

So at its core, the conclave is one that reflects the actions of the Holy Spirit. Almost always, the one elected the new pope will be a surprise. That was the case with Pope Francis. It prompted the question I mentioned above. “Who is Jorge Borgoglio?”

These are acts of faith in a bible verse. “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” It is the promise Jesus made to Peter. “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.“

A commentary proposes this as an accurate translation of the Aramaic. “You are the Rock (Kēpā’) and upon this rock (kēpā’) I will build my church.” And the giving of the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven is foreshadowed in Isaiah Eliakim, as master of the palace of King David authoritatively opens and shuts the House of David as the holder of the key of the kingdom.

All of this is to say that I have faith in Jesus’ promise. I believe that Jesus remains with the Church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against. it. And so the important thing is not who will succeed Pope Francis, but that all popes and bishops are the successor of the apostles. Thanks be to God that the Church does not rely on human wisdom but on the divine presence of God.

On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update. And we have restarted our podcasts after a hiatus. You can subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.