The Vatican said in a video message that Pope Francis has passed away.
On Monday, the 88-year-old first Latin American head of the Roman Catholic Church passed away.
During his twelve years as pope, he experienced a number of illnesses, with recent weeks seeing particularly serious ones.
Francis became pope in 2013. Due to his health, the 88-year-old has had to postpone certain events in recent years, often right up to the last minute.
The Vatican said in the announcement that Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88 on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at his home at Casa Santa Marta.
From the Casa Santa Marta, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, declared Pope Francis's passing at 9:45 AM [Vatican time +2 hours GMT]:
"With great sadness, dear brothers and sisters, I must inform you of our Holy Father Francis' passing. This morning, Francis, the Bishop of Rome, returned to the Father's home at 7:35 a.m. [Vatican time + 2 hours GMT]. He devoted his whole life to serving the Lord and His Church. He taught us to practice the ideals of the Gospel with integrity, bravery, and universal love, particularly in support of the poorest and most marginalised. We praise Pope Francis's soul to the One and Triune God's boundless gracious love, and we are very grateful for his example as a real follower of the Lord Jesus.
On Friday, February 14, 2025, the Pope was taken to the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital after a few days of bronchitis.
On Tuesday, February 18, Pope Francis' medical condition steadily deteriorated, and his physicians determined that he had bilateral pneumonia.
The late Pope spent 38 days in the hospital before returning to Casa Santa Marta, his Vatican apartment, to finish his recuperation.
When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was in his early twenties, he had surgery in his home country of Argentina in 1957 to remove a section of his lung that had been impacted by a serious respiratory ailment.
Pope Francis had recurrent episodes of respiratory ailments as he grew older; in November 2023, he even had to postpone a planned trip to the United Arab Emirates because of lung inflammation and influenza.
An new copy of the liturgical book for papal funeral ceremonies, which will serve as the guide for the funeral Mass that has not yet been declared, was authorised by the late Pope Francis in April 2024.
The handling of the Pope's mortal remains after death is one of the new features included in the second version of the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis.
His corpse is promptly put into the coffin when his death is confirmed at the chapel rather than the room where he passed away.
The late Pope Francis had asked that the funeral ceremonies be made simpler and centred on reflecting the Church's belief in the Risen Body of Christ, according to Archbishop Diego Ravelli, Master of Apostolic Ceremonies.
According to Archbishop Ravelli, the updated ceremony "aims to further emphasise that the Roman Pontiff's funeral is that of a pastor and follower of Christ and not of a powerful person of this world."
Rome's Bishop
Following the resignation of Benedict XVI, the pontiff, who was also the leader of the Catholic Church and the Bishop of Rome, was elected pope in 2013.
Francis spent 38 days in the hospital in February and March of this year after a series of health issues in previous years.
However, he made enough progress to be discharged from the hospital and was only yesterday interacting with Easter Sunday throngs in St. Peter's Square.
Conclave, the procedure for selecting a new pope, usually occurs 15–20 days after the death of a pope.
Recent trips to the hospital
His pontificate has been characterised by many hospital stays and health-related worries in recent years.
The Pope was treated for bronchitis after being brought to the hospital on February 14.
Following tests that showed he had low platelet levels in his blood, which are linked to anaemia, the Vatican announced he had been diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and had received blood transfusions.
next a "prolonged respiratory crisis" that necessitated a high flow of oxygen, the Vatican said on February 22 that Francis was in serious condition. The next day, the Vatican reported that Francis was exhibiting "initial, mild" renal failure.
In the days that followed, hundreds of worshippers flocked to St. Peter's Square to offer prayers for his recovery, while others visited the hospital in Rome where he was being treated to deliver cards and flowers.
Doctors said his health remained "complex" and he spent the remainder of the month in the hospital.
For the first time since his hospital admission, his voice could be heard in an audio message on March 6. He greeted well-wishers and then said, "I am with you from here."
One day after meeting US Vice President JD Vance, he spoke to large audiences at the Easter Sunday Service on Sunday.
On March 23, he made his first public appearance in five weeks, grinning and giving the spectators outside a thumbs up as he concluded his 38-day hospital stint on a balcony at Gemelli.
Before starting two months of recommended rest and recuperation, Pope made a surprise stop at his beloved church on his way back to the Vatican.
The pontiff would continue to take oral medication for a considerable amount of time to treat the fungal infection in his lungs and to continue his respiratory and physical physiotherapy, according to the doctors, who also stated that Francis would have access to additional oxygen and round-the-clock medical care as needed.
"Pope of the People"
Francis, the first pope from South America, was born in 1936. He was known as the "People's Pope" because of his support of individuals fleeing poverty, famine, and conflict throughout his pontificate.
He performed a "gesture of humility and service" in 2016 by washing the feet of migrants of various faiths at an asylum facility outside of Rome.
He has expressed his opinions on a variety of topics, including the role of women in the Catholic Church, financial inequality, and climate change.
He made an unexpected comment regarding homosexual clergy to reporters on a trip returning from Brazil, which marked the beginning of his exceptional embrace of the LGBTQ community.
He stated: "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge them?"
However, by signing the document "Dignitas Infinita" (Infinite Dignity) in April 2024, he seemed to reaffirm the Vatican's strong opposition to gender reassignment, surrogacy, abortion, and euthanasia.
His own liberal credentials were called into doubt the same year after allegations that he had used a homophobic slur in private.
Pope's latest state of health
Francis had a portion of one lung removed when he was a young man in his native Argentina.
Francis struggled with illness and bronchitis in his latter years, limiting his public speaking and using a wheelchair or cane to move about.
In 2021, Francis was admitted to the hospital for the first time as pope in order to have a portion of his colon removed.
He was brought to the hospital in June 2023 for an intestinal procedure. He had been experiencing "recurrent, painful and worsening" symptoms, according to the Vatican at the time, which were attributed to an abdominal hernia.
Due of his recent health problems, Francis was unable to attend important Roman Catholic holidays, like as last year's customary Good Friday procession at Rome's Colosseum.
He made a suggestion in 2022 that he would resign if his health worsened after being seen in a wheelchair in 2022 because of movement problems brought on by a flare-up of sciatica, a nerve disorder that causes pain in the legs.
Instead of serving for life, his predecessor, the late Benedict XVI, became the first pope to step down in almost 600 years in 2013, and he passed away in 2022.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the Pope's first name, and he had previously been a Buenos Aires bishop.
Francis' death will be mourned by an estimated 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide.
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