The death of the Catholic pontiff, Pope Francis, came as a surprise to millions of his admirers worldwide. On Easter Sunday, he greeted tens of thousands of Catholics at St. Peter’s Square in an open-air Popemobile. The following day, being Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, he died. He was 88.
Born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this son of Italian immigrants was deeply religious, intelligent and reportedly loved to dance tango as a boy. He was the eldest of five siblings.
He started his priestly journey on December 13, 1969 when he was ordained a priest after 13 years of study. On July 31, 1973, he became the head of the Jesuits in Argentina. His tenure ended on a controversial note in 1979 as critics accused him of having an autocratic management style.
Nonetheless, he rose to become Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in May 1992. In 1998 he was appointed Archbishop and Primate of Argentina. Pope John Paul II appointed him a cardinal in February 2001.
On March 13, 2013 he was elected pope after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on health grounds. This made him the first non-European pope in 1,300 years. Benedict later died on December 31, 2022, in the Vatican monastery.
Pope Francis was well known for his humility. When he was the Archbishop of Argentina, he reportedly commuted to work by public transport, cooked his own meals and did not live in the archbishop’s palace.
Though he rejected same-sex marriage, he had a conciliatory attitude to LGBT people. He once said at his first news conference as a Pope that “if someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” In December 2023, Francis approved a landmark ruling of the Vatican that priests can administer blessings to same-sex couples as long as they are not part of church liturgies.
He frowned on the clergy who sexually abuse children. In February 2019, for instance, he expelled a United States Cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, for sexually abusing minors.
Francis respected women and gave them special roles in the Vatican. In 2020, he appointed the first woman to hold a high-ranking post in the Secretariat of State and also appointed six women to Vatican finance council. In 2021, he changed the Church law to allow women to serve as readers at liturgies, altar servers and distributors of communion.
His first papal encyclical, “Laudato Si” focused solely on the environment. It not only called for the protection of the environment; it also denounced the excesses of global capitalism in exploiting the poor.
The illness that led to his eventual death started in March 2023 when he was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome with a respiratory infection. In June of that same year, he was admitted to the same hospital for an operation on his abdomen.
In February 2025, the Pope suffered from bronchitis and was admitted to hospital. Later, he was reported to be battling double pneumonia. He was discharged on March 23, 2025 after a 38-day stay in the hospital.
The amiable Pope met with many world leaders and toured many countries to preach his gospel of peace. He was instrumental to the restoration of diplomatic relations for the first time in decades between the US and Cuba in 2014. On last Easter Sunday, he met privately with the US Vice-President JD Vance at the Vatican.
Following his demise, many world leaders paid tribute to the 266th Pope. The US President, Donald Trump, prayed God to bless him and all who loved him. British monarch, King Charles, said he would be remembered for his compassion, his concern for the unity of the Church and his tireless commitment to the common causes of all people of faith.
The United Kingdom Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, eulogised his tireless efforts to promote a world that is fairer to all, saying it would leave a lasting legacy. Egyptian President, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi described the leader of the over one billion Catholics worldwide as a voice of peace, love and compassion; while Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, called him a faithful friend who recognized the Palestinian state. Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, said he was a beacon of compassion.
President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria described Francis as a humble servant of God, tireless champion of the poor and guiding light for millions. He called his death “a sacred return to his maker at a time of renewed hope for Christians.”
Soon, the process of choosing a new pope who will be in charge of the smallest independent state in the world, the Vatican City, will commence. About 135 of the 252 Catholic cardinals will converge in the Vatican for that process, called the Conclave. It is done in secret, but members of the public are informed through the colour of the smoke that is released twice a day whether a new pope has been elected. A new pope is elected if the smoke is white, but if it is black, no one has been elected.
We commiserate with Catholics and all men of goodwill who are mourning Pope Francis and pray God to grant his soul eternal rest.