The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has died at the age of 88, the Vatican has announced.
Francis began his papacy in March 2013 and was the first pontiff from Latin America.
“At 7:35 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 Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, said in a statement on Monday morning.
Pope Francis “taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalized,” Farrell wrote.
“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 God, One and Tribune,″ the cardinal added.
Pope Francis was last seen in public on Easter Sunday when he attended the Holy Mass at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
His traditional Easter address was delivered by a member of the clergy due to the pontiff’s poor health. Afterwards, the Pope got out of his wheelchair and waved to the cheering crowd from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, saying: “Dear brothers and sisters, happy Easter.”
Earlier on Sunday, the head of the Catholic Church held a meeting with US Vice President J.D. Vance during which he reportedly “lectured” Vance on compassion.
Pope Francis had been discharged from hospital in March after five weeks of treatment for an infection that led to him contracting double pneumonia.
The pontiff was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, in 1936. He was ordained as a Catholic priest in the late 1960s, and became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. He was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
During his 12-year papacy, Francis positioned himself as a critic of capitalism and globalization and a defender of the poor and disadvantaged. He criticized extravagance and privilege within the Vatican, calling on cardinals and priests to show humility.
The pontiff also repeatedly urged the international community to implement reforms to tackle climate change and labeled the possession of nuclear weapons “immoral.”
His attempts to make the Catholic Church more inclusive caused controversy, with the Pope saying in 2023 that “being homosexual is not a crime.” Earlier this year, Francis allowed gay men to become priests in Italy. He also prompted women to more important, decision-making roles within the Сhurch.
Pope Francis also attempted to address the issue of child sex abuse by Catholic clerics, although there are contradicting views on how successful his efforts were.
He worked towards improving relations between the Catholic Church and other religious denominations, visiting the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq as well as meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in 2016, in the first such event of its kind.
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