Papal legacy: Pope Francis dies at 88 on Easter Monday
Pope Francis has passed away at the age of 88. Jorge Mario Bergoglio had led the Catholic Church since March 13, 2013. The Argentine Jesuit was often ill toward the end of his papacy. His last serious health issues appeared in early February 2025.
"Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta," reported the official Vatican News service.
Pope Francis was with the faithful until the very end. On Holy Thursday, he maintained tradition by visiting a prison as a gesture of closeness, and he was with the faithful on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.
Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88
On February 14, 2025, he was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic with symptoms of severe bronchitis. Less than five days later, bilateral pneumonia was detected.
Due to upper respiratory infections, which he had increasingly experienced in recent years, the Pope was also admitted to Gemelli at the end of March 2023. It was there, two years earlier, in July 2021, that he underwent intestinal surgery.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio began his papal service on March 13, 2013. At the time, it was said that the 76-year-old Argentine Jesuit was a compromise choice and, due to his age, a "transitional" pope. He took the name of St. Francis of Assisi, patron of the poor and destitute.
From Buenos Aires to the Vatican
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in 1936 in a poor district of Buenos Aires to a family of Italian immigrants who had fled fascist Benito Mussolini’s regime to Argentina. He was educated as a chemist and joined the Jesuit order at the age of 22. He had five siblings.
Bergoglio studied at schools in Chile, Argentina, and the USA, where he learned philosophy, literature, and psychology. He was ordained a priest on December 13, 1969. In 1964-1965, he was a teacher of literature and psychology. From 1967-1970, he studied theology at the Faculty of Theology of Colegio Máximo San José in San Miguel. The future pope was appointed auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992. He became the archbishop of its diocese five years later. In 2001, John Paul II elevated him to the rank of cardinal, giving him the title of presbyter of San Roberto Bellarmino.
Close to the Holy See
In 2005, Bergoglio was mentioned as one of the favourites to take the Holy See. However, the conclave then elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) as head of the Holy See, who resigned on February 11, 2013, due to, as he explained, declining health and lack of strength.
On March 13, 2013, during the second day of the conclave, in the fifth vote, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope.
Pope Francis quickly made changes in the functioning of the papal institution. First and foremost, he gave up residing in the usual residence, the Apostolic Palace, and instead took an apartment in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. He spoke many languages: Spanish, Italian, German, French, Piedmontese, and English, and knew a bit of Portuguese.
Has Pope Francis made a breakthrough?
Francis was the first pope not to take the name of any of his predecessors. He published three encyclicals. In "Laudato Si'," later called the "green encyclical," he emphasized the importance of caring for the planet and its climate in a strong manner for the first time. The encyclical "Fratelli Tutti" was about fraternity and social friendship. The first, "Lumen Fidei," was about faith. Pope Francis also issued several exhortations and dozens of documents, including apostolic letters and motu proprio.
He initiated the establishment of the Council of Cardinals. It was the first such body in the Vatican, and like the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, it was meant to be a response to the scandals of pedophilia in the Church.
As the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis found himself in an exceptional situation for years. His retired predecessor, Benedict XVI, until his death on December 31, 2022, was right there within the Vatican, in a residence in the former monastery building. Their meetings, including the first one just after the election in Castel Gandolfo, have gone down in Church history.
