“Pope Francis died of a stroke, the Vatican said on Monday (Apr 21), amid widespread mourning for the 88-year-old reformer who inspired devotion but riled traditionalists during 12 years leading the Catholic Church,” the Vatican announced. The Argentine died on Monday morning at the Santa Marta residence where he lived, almost a month after leaving hospital following a five-week stay battling double pneumonia.
According to the death certificate released by the Vatican, Francis died of a stroke, causing a coma and “irreversible” heart failure. It also revealed he had Type 2 diabetes, which was not previously known. His body was set to be laid in a single coffin of wood and zinc in the Santa Marta chapel on Monday evening, before being transferred likely on Wednesday to St Peter’s Basilica to lie in state. The funeral must take place between four and six days after the death before Francis is buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
Throughout his papacy, Francis championed the poor and vulnerable and emphasized love over doctrine. “If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?” he said at the start of his papacy.
But thoughts are already turning to who will succeed him as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, with a conclave of cardinals set to be called within three weeks. At the Vatican on Monday, a hush seemed to descend on the normally boisterous St Peter’s Square as the death knell rang out for the passing of Francis. The bells at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris France and in Mosul, Iraq, where the pope visited in 2021, also rang out in his memory.
In response to his passing, world leaders from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin paid tribute to the pope’s moral and spiritual leadership, and prayers were held around the world. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him a “beacon of compassion, humility and spiritual courage,” while Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called him a “great man.”
Francis, known for being stubborn, made several appearances in public, despite health issues. His hospital stay was the latest of a series of health issues, from colon and hernia surgery to problems walking, which saw him take to a wheelchair in recent years. But he never took a day off and made frequent trips abroad, including a four-nation Asia-Pacific tour only last September.
When Francis took over, the Catholic Church was beset by infighting and plagued by a global scandal over clerical sex abuse of children and decades of cover-ups. Francis initiated a major shake-up of the Vatican’s powerful governing body that included improving financial responsibility and allowing lay Catholics to lead Vatican offices. However, critics accused him of creating doctrinal confusion and failing to defend traditional Catholic beliefs on key issues such as abortion and divorce.
“In this realm, where Francis had supreme power, he refused to make the necessary changes,” said campaigner Anne Barrett Doyle from BishopAccountability.org.
