World Shows Honor to Pope Francis
A Historic Passing and Global Mourning
Following the Vatican’s announcement of the pope’s death at age 88, mourners—some in tears—assembled in St. Peter’s Square. Leaders around the world hailed Francis for his dedication to the underprivileged and excluded.
The Vatican declared on Monday that Pope Francis has passed away, effectively concluding a pioneering pontificate aimed at gently transforming the Roman Catholic Church into a more inclusive institution.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell declared the pope dead while somberly standing behind a microphone in the Vatican.
“This morning at 7:35 the Bishop of Rome, Francis, went back to the Father’s house,” he stated.
Cardinal Farrell, an American of Irish background, takes over as de facto Vatican administrator upon the death of a pope.
Some in tears, others in mourning, hurriedly assembled at St. Peter’s Square in Rome, where the death of Francis stunned many a day after he had blessed the devoted for Easter.
“We saw him yesterday,” 69-year-old Marco Volpi remarked.
“We did not foresee such a sad conclusion.”
Although the funeral date is currently unknown, the Vatican said that Pope Francis would have a public viewing as early as Wednesday morning.
Tributes, Transition, and Legacy
While compliments from world leaders expressing sympathy to the Catholics worldwide and commending the pontiff’s dedication to the underprivileged, discussions and machinations to select a successor to Francis got under way.
Without Francis, a modest advocate of the underprivileged, the leadership of almost a billion Catholics suffers a vacuum.
It also provides the cardinals of the church with a choice: either reinstate the more austere route of his forebears or choose a new pope who will follow his welcoming, worldwide attitude.
Following early mistakes, Francis made significant progress toward resolving the sexual abuse issue within the church and tackling its dubious financial practices.
Early in his pontificate, when liberal leaders throughout the globe simultaneously stressed climate change, migrants’ rights, and income equality, his extraordinary global status gave place to a populist era when he occasionally seemed a lone voice.
He never changed his strategy, though, even emphasizing migrants in his last words the day before he passed away.
Francis thought that rather than providing a cloister separate from the modern society, the future of the church rested on reaching the fringes to embrace the faithful.
The next few days will define the depth of his actual support.
Final Moments, Health, and the Road Ahead
Here is further information as well:
Life of Francis:
See Pope Francis’s entire obituary right here.
Medical issues:
One of Pope Francis’s multiple public appearances during the previous week, he visited Vice President JD Vance only one day before his death and blessed the devoted assembly assembled in St. Peter’s Square for Easter Mass.
But his feeble, raspy voice served as a reminder of his imperfection less than a month following a protracted hospital admission for life-threatening pneumonia.
But even after a hospital stay where he almost died twice, the news of Francis’ passing seemed sudden and inevitable.
Choosing a successor pope:
The death of a pope starts a series of rites and ceremonies many of which have been developed to guarantee secrecy and a smooth transition and have stayed unaltered for centuries.
The College of Cardinals’ dean will call the cardinals to Rome for what is known as a conclave to choose Francis’ successor within 15 to 20 days.
The legacy of the pope:
Often selecting prelates who shared his values of being close to the poor, of welcoming the underprivileged, and of elevating concerns like climate change top priority, Francis produced thousands of bishops and named more than half of the College of Cardinals.
He also created forum for discussion.
The cardinals who will be selecting his successor now have to make a difficult choice: will they stick to his road toward a more open church or veer toward a more orthodox path?
