Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and Latin American pope, died at age 88 at the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta.
His death was announced by the Vatican on X (formerly Twitter) after he appeared in his wheelchair to bless the faithful on Easter Sunday.
During his 12-year papacy, Francis spearheaded significant changes within the Catholic Church, moving it toward a more inclusive and welcoming approach.
He clashed with traditionalists, aiming for a church more in tune with ordinary people and less inward-looking.
He appointed diverse bishops who shared his pastoral vision.
Francis's papacy was marked by his advocacy for migrants, the marginalized, and environmental protection. Many Catholics welcomed his approach, seeing it as a needed reform.
Pope Francis, who rose from modest means in Argentina to become the first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff, who clashed bitterly with traditionalists in his push for a more inclusive Roman Catholic Church, and who spoke out tirelessly for migrants, the marginalized and the health of the planet, died on Monday at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. He was 88.
The pope’s death was announced by the Vatican in a statement on X, a day after Francis appeared in his wheelchair to bless the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.
Throughout his 12-year papacy, Francis was a change agent, having inherited a Vatican in disarray in 2013 after the stunning resignation of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a standard-bearer of Roman Catholic conservatism.
Francis steadily steered the church in another direction, restocking its leadership with a diverse array of bishops who shared his pastoral, welcoming approach as he sought to open up the church. Many rank-and-file Catholics approved, believing that the church had become inward-looking and distant from ordinary people.
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