Vatican announces the death of Pope Francis, aged 88
Pope Francis has died at the age of 88, the Vatican has announced, as dedications and obituaries flood in.
“At 7:35 [05:35 GMT] this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church,” Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo, announced.
Reported by Middle East Eye, the Vatican announced the death of the Pope in the early hours of April 21st, a day after he had stood on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica as a benediction was read out on his behalf.
The pope condemned the “deplorable humanitarian situation” seen in Gaza and called for a renewal of the ceasefire, in his last controversial move epitomizing his character.
“I express my closeness to the sufferings… of all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people,” the Pope wrote, “I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace.”
Pope Francis has always been a polarising figure through his deep concern for the poor and his critiques of capitalism and climate change. In November, the pope called for experts to “carefully determine whether (the situation in Gaza) corresponds to the technical definition” of genocide.
In December 2024, the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned the Vatican’s ambassador to express their outrage over the pope’s criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza after the pope labelled them as acts of cruelty, not war.
Francis suffered from chronic lung disease since he was a young man and had been hospitalized in February for respiratory issues.
The first Latin American pontiff, Francis was elected to reform the Vatican bureaucracy. As part of his tenure as pope, he introduced women into the decision-making process of the church; he told AP News that he did not consider homosexuality a crime; he changed the church’s position on the death penalty, labelling it inadmissible; and shunned the possession and use of nuclear weapons.
This made him a controversial figure for many traditional, conservative Catholics but the pope marched on in his mission to bring marginalized groups back into the church and in touch with God.
Whilst his career wasn’t completely untarnished, as he was heavily criticized for some of his handlings in sexual abuse cases within the church, Pope Francis was a symbol of the enlargement of the church and its transparency, relative to his predecessors.
Reverence will continue to be shown in the weeks following his death.
Middle East Eye, Al Jazeera, AP News
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