Pope Francis has died. He was eighty-eight years old.
Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His father was an Italian immigrant to Argentina whose family had escaped fascism under Benito Mussolini; his mother was born in Argentina and was also of Italian descent. Bergoglio was the eldest of five children, and initially pursued a career in chemistry. When he was twenty-one years old, he contracted life-threatening pneumonia with cysts and had a portion of one of his lungs removed.
After three years of study at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Buenos Aires, Bergoglio entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) as a novice in 1958. In 1960 he made his vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to formally enter the order as a religious brother. He taught literature and psychology at the College of the Immaculate Conception in Santa Fe, Argentina, and later at the College of the Savior, a private primary and secondary school in Buenos Aires.
Bergoglio entered theological study at San Miguel, a Jesuit seminary in Buenos Aires, in 1967. He was ordained a priest in 1969, then completed his Jesuit spiritual training and took his final vow of obedience to mission in 1973. He was the provincial superior of the Jesuits in Argentina from 1973 to 1979, rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel—one of his alma maters—from 1980 to 1986, and confessor and spiritual director to Jesuits in Córdoba, Argentina, from 1986 to 1992.
Pope Saint John Paul II appointed Bergoglio auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992. He chose “Miserando atque eligendo” as his episcopal motto, which can be translated as “by mercifully choosing” or “by God’s merciful choice” (see translation and analysis by Charles Mercier). In 1997, John Paul II elevated him to Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires. After the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, died in 1998, Bergoglio was elevated to take his place. During his time as archbishop, Bergoglio imposed strict fiscal discipline on the diocese (which had been near bankruptcy), restructured the diocese’s administrative offices, and drastically increased outreach to the poorest communities in Buenos Aires. He also lived humbly, eschewing the trappings and regalia of his high office. He came to be known as the “villero bishop,” which means, “bishop of the slums.”
In 2001, John Paul II made Francis a cardinal. He served in curial roles on the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for the Clergy, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Pontifical Council for the Family, and the Commission for Latin America. Francis participated as a cardinal elector at the 2005 conclave after John Paul II’s death, which elected Benedict XVI on the fourth ballot. He also served as president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference from 2005 to 2011.
In the 2013 conclave following the resignation of Benedict XVI, Bergoglio was elected on the fifth ballot to become the 266th pope. He took the regnal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis was the first Jesuit pope, the first American-born pope, and the first pope from the southern hemisphere. He was also the pope to have been born and raised outside Europe in over 1,200 years; the previous non-European pope was Gregory III, a Syrian who reigned from A.D. 731 to 741.
The office of pope was established by Jesus of Nazareth (c.f., Matthew 16) and was first held by Saint Peter, who served from about A.D. 30 to 68. The scriptures and traditions of the church have always acknowledged Peter and his successor Bishops of Rome as first among the bishops and head of the church on earth while it awaits the return of Christ, although the exact nature of that headship has evolved over time. During Francis’s papacy, the full formal title of the office was: His Holiness Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State, Servant of the servants of God.
As he had during his service as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis lived in accordance with his humble, ‘down to earth’ tastes and avoided much of the pomp and formality of the office. He famously chose to live in a Vatican guest house rather than at the official papal residence at the apostolic palace. He opposed what he called “clericalism” and emphasized living a life of service; one of his favorite sayings was that “the church’s shepherds must have the smell of the sheep.”
Francis has been challenged with chronic respiratory issues, stemming in part from his bout with pneumonia and removal of part of a lung when he was young. He has been prone to respiratory infections and bronchitis. He was hospitalized in February and March with double-pneumonia and was reportedly in critical condition at times. He was discharged on March 23, and was maintaining a reduced work schedule during an expected two month recuperation period.
According to Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, Francis died at 7:35 a.m. CEST (1:35 a.m. EDT; 05:35 UTC). Doctor Andrea Arcangeli, who serves as Director of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, certified the cause of death as stroke, coma, and irreversible cardiovascular collapse.
The Catholic Church now enters a sede vacante (vacant seat) period, an interregnum during which church governance falls, in a limited manner, to the College of Cardinals. Pope Francis’s coffin will move to Saint Peter’s Basilica to lie in state on Wednesday, April 23, and a funeral Mass is scheduled at Saint Peter’s on Saturday, April 26. Francis requested in a 2022 testament that he be buried at the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major “in the lateral loculus between the Pauline Chapel . . . and the Sforza Chapel,” and that his tomb “must be in the earth; simple, without particular decoration, and with the sole inscription: Franciscus.”
The College of Cardinals must convene a conclave within twenty days of a pope’s death or resignation. There are 135 cardinals eligible to vote in the conclave, and election to the papacy requires a two-thirds supermajority.
Links
- Initial death announcement by Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, April 21, 2025
- Declaration of death by Doctor Andrea Arcangeli, April 21, 2025
- Testament of the Holy Father Francis, June 29, 2022, published April 21, 2025
- Notification of Translation of the Coffin, April 22, 2025
- Notification of Funeral Mass, April 22, 2025
Updates
- April 21, 2025, 2:33 p.m.: I have updated the article to include new information about the cause of Pope Francis’s death and his desired burial plans. I have also replaced the text of the statement by Cardinal Farrell with links to his statement and other relevant releases from the Vatican press office.
- April 22, 2025, 6:50 p.m.: I have updated the article to include newly released information about when Pope Francis’s coffin will move to Saint Peter’s Basilica and when the funeral Mass will be held. I also removed a sentence stating that the nine-day “novemdiales” mourning period begins on the date of the pope’s death; it begins on the day of the funeral Mass. I apologize for the error.