After spending more than five weeks in hospital for a bout of double pneumonia, doctors told Pope Francis he needed two months' rest - but the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics kept working right to the end.
On Easter Sunday, the day before his death aged 88, Francis made his first prolonged public appearance since February, entering St. Peter's Square in a white popemobile to greet cheering crowds.
And for only the second time since leaving hospital on March 23, the pope also met on Sunday with foreign leaders, welcoming U.S. Vice President JD Vance to his residence for a brief encounter.
"I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill," Vance wrote on X. "May God rest his soul."
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his family also had a brief meeting with Francis on Sunday.
"It was a brief moment, but profoundly touching, a meeting of kindness, smiles, and blessing," Plenkovic said in a statement on Monday.
For someone in convalescence after a prolonged illness, Francis was working himself hard.
Cardinal Michael Czerny, a senior Vatican official who was close to Francis, said he did not think Francis pushed himself irresponsibly, and needed to move about.
"Absolute rest isn't healing," Czerny said. "He balanced convalescence with his being the Bishop of Rome."
Czerny said the pope was devoted to his work leading the world's Catholics.
Citing an instruction Francis often gave Catholic bishops to make sure they were close to their flocks, Czerny said: "He died with the smell of the sheep on him."
Austen Ivereigh, a biographer of Francis who also wrote a book with the pope in 2020, said the pontiff "listened carefully to his doctors' advice but his first priority was his mission of presence."
Francis, said Ivereigh, was "a master of timing."
"He made sure we had a pope for Easter and kept up his mission of presence to the last," said the biographer.
During his time in hospital, Francis had suffered severe breathing crises, which his doctors later said had nearly killed him. The Vatican said on Monday evening that the pope had died of a stroke and subsequent, irreversible cardiovascular arrest.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, announcing the death on the Vatican's TV channel earlier on Monday, said Francis had died at 7:35 a.m.
A FINAL FEW WORDS
Since returning from hospital, Francis had 24-hour care from a nurse, the Vatican said previously. The pope was receiving oxygen via a small hose under his nose overnight, and during the day as needed.
During his stay in hospital, the pope also used non-invasive mechanical ventilation, involving the placement of a mask over his face to help push air into his lungs. He was no longer using ventilation after leaving hospital, the Vatican said.
In his last public appearance on Sunday, Francis said only a few words, wishing a happy Easter in a raspy voice to about 35,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square.
In a traditional Easter message, read by an aide, Francis reiterated his frequent call for a ceasefire in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the enclave "deplorable".
The pope also called on Palestinian militant group Hamas to release its remaining hostages and condemned what he said was a "worrisome" trend of antisemitism in the world.
Father Gabriel Romanelli, from the Gaza parish the pope called regularly during the Israel-Hamas war, told Vatican News: "The pope called us for the last time on Saturday evening, shortly before the Easter Vigil began, while we were praying the Rosary. He told us that he was praying for us, he blessed us, and he thanked us for our prayers in his favour."
As he toured the square in his popemobile on Sunday, people lined the aisles to get close to him, many holding aloft national flags and shouting "viva il papa!" (long live the pope!). Some offered babies for him to bless.
Italy's Family Affairs Minister Eugenia Roccella said Francis had given his all, to the end.
The pope, she said in a statement, "chose not to spare himself, transmitting in his suffering, physical closeness, a message about his whole papacy."
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
17 Comments
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Jay
Condolences to those Catholics who might find today a sad one, but I think Francis' shift towards religious pluralism has been profoundly negative.
Remember the “Pachamama scandal” - an event where a statue representing the Andean fertility goddess was featured during a Vatican ceremony? What was that? How about the softer tone on the LGBT crowd, completely diluting core teachings? That's not compassion - that's capitulation.
The Church is supposed to offer eternal truth, not follow the cultural winds of the day. As the saying goes: "If the shepherd starts echoing the wolves, don’t be surprised when the flock is led astray."
lincolnman
A true Christian...rest in peace....
A lot of so-called Christians on the far-right should use this time to reflect on their constant hate, demonization, and call to fascism....
Yrral
I think he has resolve the end was near,but fought on as a spiritual warrior,he was , especially being.a Jesuit,who believes in Mercy and Charity
chatanista
Francis was a great pope and a wonderful human being.
chatanista
A lot of so-called Christians on the far-right should use this time to reflect on their constant hate, demonization, and call to fascism....
Posters should keep politics out of articles about the Pope's death. Respect.
Underworld
Jay
Ah, no. Jesus never disparaged the LGBT crowd, so why should the Pope? Jesus was about compassion for everyone.
Maybe the cultural winds of the day informs eternal truth?
Underworld
chatanista
I doubt that the Pope would have shared this sentiment. He actively pushed back against far-right hate.
I'veSeenFootage
And, amazingly, the saying goes "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”", not "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself -except for the gays, the immigrants, vaccinated people and liberals-".
chatanista
I doubt that the Pope would have shared this sentiment. He actively pushed back against far-right hate.
Some just can't help yourselves, can they.
lincolnman
Hmmmm.....
"Far-right Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene declared that "evil is being defeated" in the wake of Pope Francis' death.
"Today there were major shifts in global leaderships," said the self-identified "Christian nationalist" in a post on X Monday morning, roughly nine hours after the pontiff's passing.
"Evil is being defeated by the hand of God."
Wanna explain that one?
Cephus
Jay,
"Condolences to those Catholics who might find today a sad one, but I think Francis' shift towards religious pluralism has been profoundly negative.
Remember the “Pachamama scandal” - an event where a statue representing the Andean fertility goddess was featured during a Vatican ceremony? What was that? How about the softer tone on the LGBT crowd, completely diluting core teachings? That's not compassion - that's capitulation.
The Church is supposed to offer eternal truth, not follow the cultural winds of the day. As the saying goes: "If the shepherd starts echoing the wolves, don’t be surprised when the flock is led astray."
There is time for everything, though what you are saying is understandable. Let's have the funeral first then we will have all the time to analyze the works of Francis.
wallace
The pope died from a stroke and a heart attack, not from the pneumonia or lung problems that he had. His body just gave up.
chatanista
Hmmmm.....
"Far-right Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene declared that "evil is being defeated" in the wake of Pope Francis' death.
She is not a poster here. US politics should be kept out of Pope Francis passing. There are other JT articles today on which posters can whine about those issues. Have some respect.
Moderator
Readers, please do not attempt to make this discussion about U.S. politics.
Underworld
Jay
And, amazingly, the saying goes "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”", not "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself -except for the gays, the immigrants, vaccinated people and liberals-".
Yet Jesus was tolerant of sin and of sinners. "Let he who is without sin throw the first stone."
The Pope wasn't into biblical values. The bible is just a book. Leviticus 11:9-12 says not to eat shellfish. Do you condemn eaters of shellfish too?
Pope Francis was into lived values. I guess that's why you didn't like his teachings.
Surely compassion for our LGBT brothers and sisters speaks truth to love. Pope Francis certainly believed it.
HopeSpringsEternal
Pope Francis a hard worker like DJT, just their nature and one reason they grew to respect each other so much.
Pope respected and supported Trump's commitment to end war in Ukraine as do most US Catholics. Ukraine's majority Catholic. US Catholic vote supported Trump by +10pt in Nov. vs +10pt support in 2020 for Catholic Biden
US Catholics, including most Hispanics = 22% US electorate
DJT will attend the Pope's Funeral in Rome, RIP!