Pope Francis, the first Latin pontiff to grace the Vatican, has died, the Holy See has reported.
He was 88. The passing comes a day after he was seen on Easter Sunday, delivering a message of peace around the world.
The Vatican said Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, died of a cerebral stroke that put him into a coma and led to irreversible heart failure. He had recovered from a recent and serious bout with double pneumonia that hospitalized him for weeks and left him weak.
“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow, I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, The Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the Father’s house. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His church," read the announces from Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo (the administrator of the property and revenues of the Vatican).
“He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of God, One and Triune.’’
According to the new rites and rituals Francis approved last year, the body will remain in the chapel for a few days before being brought for public viewing in St. Peter’s Basilica. In the coming weeks, eligible members of the College of Cardinals will vote for the new Pope, in a centuries-old ritual that involves piercing the ballots with a needle and thread after they’re counted, then burning them to produce either the white or black smoke to signal if there’s a new leader.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina became the Pope in 2013, succeeding Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), the first pope in almost 600 years to step down from the papacy while living. At the time the 76-year-old was the Jesuit Archbishop of Buenos Aires. He chose his name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, a saint known for living a life of Christian poverty
He was born in Buenos Aires on Dec. 17, 1936, and chose the path of the priesthood, entering the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto. After years as a collegiate psychology and theology teacher, in 1969 he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano, and became a member of the Jesuit order in 1973.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement that Francis will long be remembered for his outreach to those on the margins of the church and society.
“He renewed for us the mission to bring the Gospel out to the ends of the earth and offer divine mercy to all,” he said. “Recently, he expressed anew prayerful hope to the bishops of this country in our attempts to respond to the face of Christ in the migrant, poor, and unborn. In fact, he has always used the strongest and clearest expressions in the defense of the dignity of the human person from conception to natural death.”
