Pope Francis Passes Away Peacefully a Day After Easter, Returns to the Father's Embrace
Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced Monday that Pope Francis, the eighty-eight-year-old head of the Catholic Church, passed away. He had been struggling with pneumonia for some months. The first Pope from Latin America, Francis headed the Church for 12 years, a decade during which he attempted to transform the institution amidst strife and controversy.
Pope Francis Passes Away Peacefully a Day After Easter, Returns to the Father's Embrace
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Camerlengo of the Vatican, announced on Monday that Pope Francis died a day after Easter.
The 88 year-old Pope has been struggling to fight pneumonia in recent months. An official fourteen-day mourning period will begin, following which the Cardinals will meet in conclave to elect the new Vicar of Christ.
His health had been a problem for several months, especially after he was in the hospital for five weeks with pneumonia, from which he just barely emerged. He was released on March 23. During the run-up to his death, he had missed important Holy Week celebrations for the first time since becoming pope in 2013, transferring many of his responsibilities to cardinals.
At 7:35 this morning, Pope Francis returned to the Father. "Farrell stated in the statement, 'He lived a life dedicated to the service of the Lord and Church.' He taught us to live with Gospel values in mind, especially towards the poor and most vulnerable, in faith, with strength, and universally." With profound gratitude for his being as a genuine disciple of the Lord Jesus, we entrust to the boundless, gracious mercy of God, One and Tribune, the soul of Pope Francis.
In his last Easter homily, Pope Francis spoke to the faithful in a message of hope and kindness, and he voiced his solidarity with the suffering throughout the world. "Brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!" he declared his voice full of renewed vigour after his latest hospital stay.
