Pope Francis
Having been ill for sometime as well as being hospitalised at Gemelli Hospital in Rome, Italy for pneumonia and anaemia related complications in the later winter and early spring, Pope Francis died at 7:35AM on Easter Monday, 21st April 2025 at the age of 88 years old in the Vatican. Just the day before, he had a final public appearance and his final public address to call for peace in Ukraine and Gaza as part of the annual Easter celebrations while using a wheelchair before driven around by his aids in a vehicle that allowed him to remain in his wheelchair and smile and wave at the people who came to see him in St Peter’s Square.
Born in Bueno Aires, Argentina on 17 December 1936, Pope Francis was baptised as Jorge Mario Bergoglio to parents of Italian descent with their roots going back to Turin (the location of the Turin Shroud) and Piedmont. His dad’s family had intended to leave Italy for Argentina via the Pricipessa Mafalda in 1927 which later sank without them onboard off the coast of Brazil. Their lucky escape was brought about by the slow sale of their house and café. Pope Francis’ Italian born dad Mario met Regina Maria Sivori (another Italian immigrant) not long after arriving in Argentina and their son Jorge (later Pope Francis) was the first of five children.
The Piedmont dialect was used by Pope Francis when he visited northern Italy from remembering his grandmother teaching him it. It should be noted that as a teenager he had a part of one of his lungs removed due to an infection that can now be treated thanks for advancements in antibiotics and medicine. This has been misinterpreted to be the complete removal of a lung.
Pope Francis seldom spoke about his childhood in Buenos Aires, his siblings and the rest of his family apart from his grandmother’s Catholic upbringing. This upbringing was followed up with a visit to his local parish of San Jose de Flores while heading a school picnic where he received the sacrament of reconciliation on the Feast of St. Matthew (21 September) in 1953. This moment struck him with “the loving presence of God” and he described the gift as “from a God of surprises” and this moment from a god who offered him unexpected, unlimited and unmerited mercy would change the young man’s life. At the age of 21, he entered the Society of Jesus. The Society of Jesus, AKA Jesuits are a male order of the Catholic Church and they have 19,000 members globally, with members swearing vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. St Paul Miki, the patron saint of Japan, was a member of The Society of Jesus during his lifetime prior to being martyred alongside 25 other Japanese Catholics in Nagasaki in 1597. Yes, that very same Nagasaki that was bombed at the end of the Second World War but let’s continue to focus on His Holiness Pope Francis.
As Father Jorge, he studied in Argentina, Chile and Germany. He also led the country’s Jesuits during the military dictatorship Argentina had between 1976 and 1983. He went on to serve as auxiliary bishop followed by Archbishop of Buenos Aires for over 20 years before being elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2001. He was elected as pope in 2013 after German born Pope Benedict XVI (The sixteenth) stepped down nearly 8 years after becoming pope following the death of Polish born Pope John Paul II in 2005. He was chosen Pope Francis’ ascension to the papacy made him the first Latin American born pope in papal history. He chose the name Francis to honour St Francis of Assisi who (alongside being the patron saint of animals) has been noted for his humility, concern for the poor, commitment to interreligious dialogue, emphasis on the mercy of God and for his new role as pope, his international visibility.
Amid his orthodox views on intimate matters, he was strong on social justice like calling out human rights violations around the world as well like Indonesia and East Timor as well as calling for ceasefires in Ukraine (the suffering of its civilians saw him weep for a minute during the during his 2022 Thanksgiving service when the war was brought up) and the Palestinian Gaza strip. In fact, his last public address was to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. He also condemned the deportation of migrants. He also called for an end to Bahrain’s death penalty on a 2022 visit to the nation. Another very significant move Francis did during his papacy was the sacking (or defrocking) of various clergymen who had behaved inappropriately towards children instead of having them be sent to another parish. He also embraced interfaith dialogue with Jewish and Muslim leaders and attempted to heal some of the oldest schisms (splits) in Christianity like reaching out to the Russian Orthodox Church as well as tackling financial corruption in the Vatican Bank. His Holiness also permitted priests to forgive the “sin of abortion” amid his anti-abortion views which meant that women were no longer being excommunicated for going under a procedure that has the chance of saving their lives whether financially or medically. Under his papacy, parishes were encouraged to take in migrants whether from Syria or Ukraine to name a few. The process for marriage annulment (which can be described as divorce with extra steps that see the marriage being rendered non-existent in the first place) was also made easier, quicker and virtually free. Pope Francis also enforced economic reduction for High-Ranking Bishops by eliminating bonuses usually given out to Vatican staff upon the arrival of a new pope. It was one of his first actions and this saw the firing of a “bling bishop” in Germany a year into his pontificate. The bishop in question had spent more than $40 million dollars on a new residence.
Francis has pushed on the Church to be more thrifty. Eliminating the bonuses that are typically given to Vatican staff when a new Pope is elected was one of his first actions. He fired the German "bling bishop" called Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst
a year into his pontificate after he allegedly spent more than $40 million on a new residence. One final mention here would be when he held Urbi et Orbi, a solemn papal address and apostolic blessing for all during the first part of the Coronavirus pandemic He did a lot during his papacy that just listing everything he did would take a whole other fact card but what we listed here should give you an idea.
He visited the Republic of Ireland for two days in August 2018 which had since Pope John Paul II’s papacy had legalised divorce, gay marriage and was about to overturn a controversial ban on abortion which came about after an Indian dentist perished in 2012 due to being denied one to save her from a risky and inevitably fatal pregnancy. This trip marked the first time since the 1980s that Francis had visited Ireland with his last visit prior to this being in 1980 when he studied English in Dublin when he was still Fr. Jorge Bergoglio. Much of his visit was broadcast on radio and television as well as the internet. Crowds were reported to be one person deep which the Festival of Families at Croke Park having been attended by an estimated 82,500 people. His Holiness also signed a Mayo GAA (Gaelic Athletics Association) jersey which was mounted later on in Knock Airport. That happened after Pope Francis had visited Knock Shrine where the apparition of the Virgin Mary, Joseph her spouse and St John the Evangelist where said to have appeared in 1879. The 46th President of the United States Joe Biden also visited Knock Shrine during his 2023 visit to Ireland as did Pope John Paul II in 1979. The victims of clerical abuse were honoured with the lighting of a candle in St Mary’s Pro Cathedral in the bustling city centre of Dublin. His appearance was almost all what the Irish population could talk about as well as profit off of with various commemorative garments, flags, fridge magnets, candles, keyrings and a Lollipope, a lemon flavoured lollipop with the likeness of Pope Francis in the centre.
Since his predecessor Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (the sixteenth) was still alive when Francis became pope, his death marked the first time since the lifetime of Napoleon Bonaparte in the late 18th century and early 19th century that a living pope attended the funeral of a previous deceased pope. Pope Benedict XVI died in December 2022 and his funeral was led by Pope Francis in early January 2023. The last pope to have done this was Pope Pius VII who led the funeral of his predecessor Pope Pius VI, who died in a French prison after his critique of the French Revolution saw him being exiled in France as a prisoner of Napoleon Bonaparte. Pius VI was repatriated at the request of Pius VII from France to the Vatican and the journey was long and treacherous with the wars Napoleon was kickstarting in Europe during this time. Thankfully, there wasn’t anything stopping Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral preparations and he was interred in the Catacombs under the Vatican.
Overall, Pope Francis will be remembered for his kindness, his empathy, his generosity, his accountability with scandals within the Catholic Church and his openness on social injustices. We don’t know who will succeed him although there are at least 9 cardinals who are candidates for the role as the next Pope but who ever the conclave chooses may not have the same openness on social injustices as Francis had. We do know that much like his predecessors, there will be calls for him to be canonised like the 942 saints (with an example of being Mother Theresa who is now St Theresa of Calcutta) he canonised during his papacy with the anticipation of him being responsible for two miracles. Pope Francis will also be the first pope in 122 years to not be buried in St Peter’s Basilica as he plans to be buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome much like Pope Leo XIII (the thirteenth) who was buried in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran after his death in 1903.