Vatican City – April 21, 2025
Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of over 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide and a global symbol of humility, reform, and compassion, has died at the age of 88.
The Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis passed away peacefully in the early hours of Easter Monday at Casa Santa Marta, his residence within Vatican City. His death followed a prolonged struggle with double pneumonia, which had recently seen him hospitalized and under intensive care.
The announcement was made by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who officially declared the Pope’s death at 7:35 a.m. local time. Church bells rang across Rome, and thousands of mourners have already begun gathering in St. Peter’s Square.
Despite his declining health, Pope Francis made a final emotional appearance during Easter Sunday celebrations, greeting the faithful from his popemobile in a moment many now view as a silent farewell.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he became the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013—the first Jesuit, the first from the Americas, and the first non-European in over 1,200 years to hold the papacy. His tenure was defined by bold moves toward Church reform, advocacy for the poor and marginalized, and outspoken positions on climate change, migration, and economic inequality.
World leaders, religious figures, and citizens alike are mourning his passing. U.S. President Maria Cortez called him “a beacon of compassion and courage in a fractured world.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres praised him as “a voice of conscience in an age of chaos.”
With his death, the Catholic Church now enters a period of Sede Vacante, or “the empty