On Easter Monday, at 7:30 in the morning, Italy time, Pope Francis passed away after having a stroke, entering a coma, and ultimately having heart failure.
Pope Francis, originally named Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected Pope on March 13, 2013 on the second day of the conclave. He was the first pope to be elected from the America’s, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Throughout his 12 years of papacy, Pope Francis promoted peace and focused on human rights. He wrote the papal encyclical Laudato Si in 2015, which addressed climate change and called for action to protect the environment.
Pope Francis participated in three World Youth Days in 2016, 2019, and 2023. The 2016 World Youth Day was in Krakow, Poland with the theme, “Blessed are the Merciful, for They Shall Obtain Mercy.” This World Youth Day was in memorial of St John Paul II, who founded World Youth Day. The 2019, World Youth Day was in Panama City, Panama, which was the first time a World Youth Day was held in Central America, and Pope Francis the importance of faith in the youth. The last World Youth Day in 2023 was held in Lisbon, Portugal, highlighting “We are called as we are.”
Pope Francis had been sick for a long time, suffering from a double pneumonia and type II diabetes. He had been trying to recover from the double pneumonia since mid-February.
The process to elect the new pope is done by the conclave, a centuries-old tradition of Cardinals younger than 80 who get together in secrecy to elect the next pope. The current conclave consists of 135 Cardinals and they will get together 15 to 20 days after the day the pope died in order to elect the new pope. The time that it will take to elect a new pope in the past 200 years has been 2 to 3 days but there has been times where it took months.
The world is mourning the death of Pope Francis. Hundreds file into the St. Peter Basilica to see his open casket where he lays until the funeral this Saturday, April 26, at 10:00 am local time. Pope Francis will be buried at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, which will break the tradition of his predecessors being buried in St. Peter’s Basilica.
