Pope Francis, the Argentine Jesuit who became the first Roman Catholic pontiff from the Americas, has died, the Vatican announced Monday.
He was 88.
The news was delivered in a video address by Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Farrell said, according to an official translation.
“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and the marginalized.”
“With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the Triune God,” Farrell added.
Elected the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church following the resignation of Benedict XVI in 2013, Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936.
While Benedict was viewed as a staunch defender of orthodox doctrine, more at ease with books than with crowds, Francis emerged as a pope who frequently smiled, embraced humility, and carried a broad message.
His emphasis on poverty and human suffering resonated with many liberal non-Catholics, and he labeled climate change as a moral issue that needed urgent attention.
Rejecting the privileges associated with his role, he opted for the Vatican guest house over the lavish papal apartments.
He was the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pontiff from outside Europe in nearly 1,300 years, following Pope Gregory III of Syria in 731.
The son of an Italian immigrant father and an Italian Argentine mother, Francis was the eldest of five children.
As a young man, he worked as a janitor and nightclub bouncer before training as a chemical technician.
He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1969 and, by 1973 at age 36, had become head of the Society of Jesus in Argentina and Uruguay — a post he held until 1979.
Pope John Paul II appointed him a bishop in 1992, and six years later, Francis was named archbishop of Buenos Aires. He was elevated to cardinal in 2001.
Francis underwent surgery in his youth to remove part of a lung following a pulmonary illness, though the Vatican said in 2013 that the condition had never impaired his work.
In his later years, the pontiff faced ongoing health challenges, including respiratory ailments and several surgeries.
He was hospitalized for the first time as pope in July 2021, undergoing colon surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for diverticular stenosis — a development that shook the church despite the Vatican’s assurances that the procedure had been scheduled.
He was admitted again in March 2023 with bronchitis, joking to reporters afterward that he was “still alive.”
Just over two months later, he underwent another operation to repair a hernia.
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