Pope Francis has died at the age of 88
The Pope, who had been recovering from several weeks in hospital with a respiratory infection, passed away at 7:35am on Easter Monday at Casa Santa Marta in The Vatican.
The Pope made a surprise appearance just a day earlier, greeting people from the popemobile in St Peter's Square after appearing on the central balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica after Easter Sunday Mass.
Pope Francis was elected Pope in 2013, taking over from Pope Benedict XVI, the first Pope to retire voluntarily in almost 600 years He was both the first Pope from the Americas and the southern hemisphere. He was also the first non-European Bishop of Rome since Syrian-born Gregory III died in 741. He was also the first Jesuit to be elected to the Chair of St Peter.
He had been hospitalised at Rome's Gemelli Hospital in February with a respiratory infection and remained there for more than a month. He was discharged on March 23. Since leaving hospital, he had been directed to rest for a two-month period but made several surprise appearances across Vatican City in the lead up to Holy Week. His appearance at Sunday's Easter Mass was the latest of these surprise public appearances.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, said Pope Francis would be remembered as a man of simplicity, humility and compassion.
“The sad news of the death of Pope Francis, while it does not come as a surprise given his age and his declining health in recent years, will be received with great sadness by Catholics, and by people of good will, all over the world”, Archbishop Costelloe said.
“When Cardinal Bergoglio appeared on the balcony overlooking Saint Peter’s Square on 14 March 2013, and was introduced to the world as the newly-elected Pope Francis, his simplicity and humility set the tone for a papacy which would be marked by an emphasis on the mercy and compassion of God, and on the Church’s vocation to be a sign and bearer of that merciful love in an increasingly troubled world.
“His famous description of the Church as a field hospital where wounds could be healed and hearts could be warmed was a call to a renewal of the Church’s life and mission, grounded in a return to Christ as the source and inspiration of everything the Church sought to do and to be.
“The 12 years of the papacy of Pope Francis were not without controversy. His constant call that the Church should be open to everybody caused some to fear that he was putting at risk the integrity of the Church’s faith and moral teaching.
“He himself insisted, however, that he was ‘a loyal son of the Church’ who, in recognising his own sinfulness, had come to understand that it was the task of the Church, as it was the task of Christ, to embrace people in their brokenness and fragility and lead them to healing and wholeness.”
I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas. For all of us are children of God.
Pope Francis Easter 2025
Funeral Arrangements
The funeral Mass for Pope Francis will take place on Saturday, 26 April 2025, at 10am in St Peter’s Square (6pm in Sydney).
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at the Mass which will be concelebrated by patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests from across the globe.
The Eucharistic celebration will conclude with the Ultima commendatio and Valedictio (final commendation and farewell), marking the beginning of the Novemdiales, or nine days of mourning and Masses for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis. The Pope's body will then be taken into St Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St Mary Major for entombment. The Basilica of St Mary Major is in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood, where Pope Francis went to pray before and after trips overseas.
Conclave
The conclave to elect a new Pope will start on Wednesday, 7 May 2025 following the conclusion of the novemdiales Masses. The conclave is a gathering of 133 electors of the College of Cardinals to elect a new Pope. The conclave will take place in the Sistine Chapel at The Vatican. The Sistine Chapel has been the permanent setting for conclaves since 1878. However, the first recorded papal election took place there in 1492.
Vatican News: Conclave to elect new Pope
References
Announcement at The Vatican
Twelve years of new paths, processes, and open doors
Pope Francis: The great servant who championed humility, mercy, parity (PDF 209.9KB)
From Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Pope Francis — a life in pictures
www.vaticannews.va
Pope Francis on the Web
Video from The Vatican (English)
Funeral Mass for Pope Francis, 26 April 2025
How a Pope is elected