Vatican News

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 17:36 pm (CNA).

The following leaders from around the world are among the dignitaries who have announced they will attend Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday, April 26, at the Vatican:

Javier Milei, president of Argentina, homeland of Pope Francis

Donald Trump, president of the United States, and his wife and first lady, Melania Trump

Former U.S. president Joe Biden and his wife, former first lady Jill Biden

Bajram Begaj, president of Albania

Joâo Manuel Gonçalves, president of Angola

Vahagn Khachaturyan, president of Armenia

Sam Mostyn, governor general of Australia

Christian Stocker, chancellor of Austria

Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser of Bangladesh

Bart De Wever, prime minister of Belgium

Froyla Tzalam, governor general of Belize

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil

Zeljka Cvijanović, chairman of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mary Simon, governor general of Canada

Jose Maria Neves, president of Cape Verde

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, prime minister of Qatar

Faustin-Archange Touadera, president of the Central African Republic

Manuel José Ossandon, senator of Chile

Chin-Jen Chen, former vice president of China

Zoran Milanovic, president of Croatia

Salvador Valdés Mesa, vice president of Cuba

Nikos Christodoulides, president of Cyprus

Petr Fiala, prime minister of the Czech Republic

Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Luis Abinader, president of the Dominican Republic

Jose Ramos-Horta, president of East Timor

Daniel Noboa, president of Ecuador

Félix Ulloa Garay, vice president of El Salvador

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, vice president of Equatorial Guinea

Alar Karis, president of Estonia

Alexander Stubb, president of Finland

Emmanuel Macron, president of France

Brice Nguema, president of Gabon

Mikheil Kavelashvili, president of Georgia

Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Olaf Scholz, president and chancellor of Germany

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, prime minister of Greece

Xiomara Castro, president of Honduras.

Tamas Sulyok and Viktor Orbán, president and prime minister of Hungary

Halla Tómasdóttir, president of Iceland

Droupadi Murmu, president of India

Nechirvan Barzani, president of Kurdistan Region in Iraq

Micheal D. Higgins and Micheal Martin, president and prime minister of Ireland

Sergio Mattarella and Giorgia Meloni, president and prime minister of Italy

Yaron Sideman, ambassador of Israel

William Samoei Ruto, president of Kenya

Edgars Rinkevics, president of Latvia

Joseph Khalil Aoun, president of Lebanon

Gitanas Nauseda, president of Lithuania

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, president of Macedonia

Andry Rajoelina, president of Madagascar

Myriam Spiteri Debono, president of Malta

Rosa Icela Rodríguez, secretary of the interior of Mexico

Maia Sandu, president of Moldova

Jakov Milatović, president of Montenegro

Aziz Akhannouch, prime minister of Morocco

Daniel Chapo, president of Mozambique

Dick Schoof, prime minister of the Netherlands

Christopher Luxon, prime minister of New Zealand.

Mohamed Mustafa, prime minister of Palestine

Raúl Latorre, president of the chamber of deputies of Paraguay

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., president of the Philippines

Andrzej Duda, president of Poland

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Luis Montenegro, president and prime minister of Portugal

Ilie Bolojan, interim president of Romania

Denise Bronzetti, captain regent of San Marino

Duro Macut, prime Minister of Serbia

Wavel Ramkalawan, president of Seychelles

Julius Maada Bio, president of Sierra Leone

Peter Pellegrini, president of Slovakia

Natasa Pirc Musar and Robert Golob, president and prime minister of Slovenia

Ulf Kristersson, prime minister of Sweden

Karin Keller-Sutter, president of Switzerland

Philip Isdor Mpango, vice president of Tanzania

Faure Gnassingbé, president of Togo

Numan Kurtulmus, speaker of the national assembly of Turkey

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine

Keir Starmer, prime minister of the United Kingdom

Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations

Constantino Chiwenga, vice president of Zimbabwe

Foreign ministers 

The foreign ministers from Algeria, Burkina Faso, Japan, Mali, Mongolia, Namibia, Norway, Peru, South Sudan, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Zambia will attend.

Monarchs 

Royals include: 

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium

Queen Mary of Denmark

Prince William of Wales will attend in place of his father, King Charles III of England

King Abdullah II of Jordan

King Letsie III of Lesotho

Prince Alois and Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein

Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will attend on behalf of King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Swede

Leaders of international institutions

Bjorn Berge, secretary-general of the Council of Europe

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission

Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament

Antonio Costa, president of the council of the European Union

Kaja Callas, high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs

Álvaro Lario, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development

Pia Kauma, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the United Nations

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Vatican City, Apr 25, 2025 / 16:26 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ coffin was closed and sealed in St. Peter’s Basilica in a private ceremony on Friday evening after more than 250,000 people paid their final respects to the late pope over three days of public visitation.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, presided over the rite of the closing and sealing of the coffin, which was attended by cardinals of the Roman Curia, the pope’s secretaries, and several of his relatives.

Priests of the Chapter of St. Peter, a group responsible for the liturgical and sacramental care of St. Peter’s Basilica, will keep vigil over the late pontiff’s coffin during the night of April 25 until the funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square on the morning of April 26.

The liturgy, which lasted one hour, began with the reading of the “rogito,” a two-page summary in Latin of Francis’ life and papacy.

The choir chanted the Canticle of Zachariah, there was a moment for silent prayer, and then Farrell read a prayer in Latin asking the Lord that Pope Francis’ face, “which scrutinized your ways to show them to the Church, now see your fatherly face.”

Following the prayer, Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, the Vatican’s lead master of ceremonies for papal liturgies, covered Pope Francis’ face in a white silk veil. Farrell sprinkled holy water on the late pontiff’s body, and then Ravelli placed inside the coffin a copy of the “rogito,” rolled up inside a metal cylinder and sealed, and a bag with the coins minted during Francis’ pontificate.

First the interior coffin of zinc was closed and sealed. A cross, Pope Francis’ coat of arms, and a plaque with his papal name, the length of his life — 88 years, four months, and four days — and the length of his pontificate — 12 years, one month, and eight days — was visible on the outside of the zinc coffin. 

Then, the outer wooden coffin, which featured a cross and the coat of arms of Francis, was closed.

The rite concluded with the singing of psalms and antiphons, including the Marian antiphon for the Easter season, the Regina Caeli.

After the funeral Mass on April 26, Pope Francis’ remains will be brought from the Vatican through Rome to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he will be buried in another private ceremony.

Vatican City, Apr 25, 2025 / 16:16 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis passed away at 7:35 a.m. local time on Easter Monday, April 21, at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, as confirmed by the Holy See Press Office. The 88-year-old pontiff led the Catholic Church for a little more than 12 years.

Follow here for live updates of the latest news and information on the papal transition:

Vatican City, Apr 25, 2025 / 15:19 pm (CNA).

More than 1,800 Italian Civil Protection volunteers are currently deployed around St. Peter’s Basilica and throughout central Rome to coordinate and facilitate the flow of pilgrims paying their final respects to Pope Francis.

“Our task is to provide assistance to the pilgrims, information on where to go, access routes to the basilica, distribute bottles of water if the sun is out, and help people as much as possible,” explained volunteer Alessandro Saletta.

Italy is preparing extensively to welcome monarchs, heads of state and government, and other political representatives from around the world who will attend the funeral in St. Peter’s Square.

More than 130 international delegations have confirmed their attendance. In addition, 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs are expected.

“We at Civil Protection are assisting mostly in the Vatican area, while Italian security forces, such as the Carabinieri, the army, and the fire department, are monitoring the most sensitive areas, such as Termini station and Fiumicino airport,” Saletta explained.

The impressive security measures for Pope Francis’ funeral include the deployment of some 4,000 police officers as well as snipers, agents with expertise in detecting explosives, a no-fly zone, and exhaustive checks at airports and train and bus stations.

According to the latest figures released by the Vatican, since Wednesday nearly 250,000 people have filed through St. Peter’s Basilica where the pope, who died on Monday at the age of 88, lies in state. The public viewing ended at 7 p.m. Rome time Friday.

The funeral Mass will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 26. Once completed, the Vatican has scheduled a procession of the coffin with the pope’s remains, which will leave St. Peter’s Basilica and proceed to St. Mary Major Basilica, where the pontiff will be buried at ground level in a tomb designed with great simplicity.

The route for the funeral cortege, which represents one of the greatest organizational challenges for the Italian authorities, will pass by iconic sites such as the Roman Colosseum and will be cordoned off on both sides of the road to safely allow the faithful who wish to do so to pay their last respects.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 11:45 am (CNA).

Throughout his papacy, Francis took steps to appoint and integrate women into leadership roles in the Vatican. From the time he took office in 2013, the number of female employees working in the Vatican increased from about 850 at the beginning of Francis’ papacy to nearly 1,200 in 2023, according to a report by Vatican News. 

As of 2023, more than 1 in 4 employees of the Roman Curia — the group of bureaus that support the pope in governing the Church — are women.

While increasing the opportunities for women in the Church, Pope Francis consistently maintained the Catholic teaching that the priesthood is reserved for men. Francis said the Church needed to preserve its masculine “Petrine principle” in regards to ministry as well as its feminine, spousal nature, which he called the “Marian principle.” Notably, Francis believed women were highly capable of participating directly in the Church, especially in an “administrative way.” He said women make better managers than men and “have been running things since the Garden of Eden.”

In a 2022 interview, Francis spoke of the dignity of women as reflecting the spousal, feminine nature of the Church.

“A Church with only the Petrine principle would be a Church that one would think is reduced to its ministerial dimension, nothing else,” he said. “But the Church is more than a ministry. It is the whole people of God. The Church is woman. The Church is a spouse. Therefore, the dignity of women is mirrored in this way.” 

In March 2022, the pope established in Praedicate Evangelium (“Preach the Gospel”) that any member of the faithful could be eligible to lead a Vatican dicastery. 

Women became voting members in a 2023 synod for the first time in the Church’s history. The pope also opened to women “full membership” roles in the Vatican dicasteries — previously reserved for cardinals and bishops. In January, Pope Francis marked another milestone in his pontificate by appointing Sister Simona Brambilla, the first-ever woman to head a Vatican dicastery — the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.  

As the Church reflects on Francis’ legacy and the confidence he placed in women to help lead the Church, CNA took a closer look at four religious sisters appointed to some of the highest-ranking leadership roles in the Vatican. 

First-ever woman to lead a dicastery 

In January, Sister Simona Brambilla became the first woman to head a Vatican dicastery. 

As prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, she  oversees about 700,000 religious men and women throughout the world.

Brambilla, 60, is a member of the Consolata Missionaries religious order and served as superior general of the order for more than a decade. She was a missionary sister in Mozambique in the late 1990s and as a professional nurse taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in its Institute of Psychology.

Pope Francis appointed Brambilla in December 2024 as a member of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, which helps prepare the ordinary general assembly of the Synod of Bishops. In July 2019, she — alongside six other women — became the first female members of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. She later became secretary of the dicastery. 

When asked about her appointment as secretary in a 2024 interview, Brambilla said that for peace to grow, it “needs the fertility of a primordial soil: the healthy, good, trusting, respectful, reverent, tender, and vital relationship between man and woman.”

“A bit as it must have been at the beginning of time, in that garden in which God loved to walk in the breeze of the day, looking for the man and the woman, his blessed image,” Brambilla said. 

Brambilla works with a cardinal who serves as pro-prefect, an unprecedented structure in the Holy See. Church law calls for ordination to carry out certain governing powers. 

Pope Francis made it possible for laypeople including women to lead a dicastery — a role previously reserved for cardinals and archbishops — in the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium in 2022.

Vatican City’s first female governor 

At the beginning of 2025, Pope Francis appointed Franciscan religious sister Raffaella Petrini as president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and governor of Vatican City State, making her the first woman to ever hold the position.

Petrini served as secretary of both institutions since November 2021 — a second-ranking role in which she oversaw administrative offices, the police department, museums, and other services in Vatican City.

In her new role, Petrini reports directly to the pope and manages the Vatican budget and finance. As president of the Governorate of Vatican City, she runs the executive body of the papal city and leads the pontifical commission. She is the legislative authority of the city state. The governorate encompasses security and public order, health, economic issues, and infrastructure as well as the Vatican Museums and the Pontifical Swiss Guard. 

Petrini, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, replaced Cardinal Fernando Vérgez in the role beginning on March 1.

Petrini, 56, is a professor with both academic and administrative experience. She was born in Rome on Jan. 15, 1969, and graduated with a degree in political science from the Guido Carli International University of Studies. She has a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in social sciences, where she has taught economics and the sociology of economic processes.  

From 2005 to 2021, Petrini worked at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which was responsible for missionary work. 

Pope Francis announced Petrini’s appointment in January during an interview, where he said: “Women know how to manage things better than us” and shared how “we now have many women” in leadership roles in the Vatican.  

Pioneering woman in key social development role

In August 2021, Pope Francis appointed Italian economist and Catholic religious sister Alessandra Smerilli to a second-ranking position in the Vatican’s social development office — one of the highest posts ever held by a woman at the Holy See. 

Smerilli, a Salesian Sister of Don Bosco, was appointed “ad interim” secretary of the Vatican’s social development office, the dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. 

The office helps promote Catholic social teaching around the world by addressing various social justice issues including human rights, the safeguarding of creation, human trafficking, and other charitable works.  

The 50-year-old Salesian sister is an economist and professor. She has been an undersecretary at the human development dicastery since March 24, 2021, and was one of the principal organizers of the 2020 Economy of Francesco event. 

When asked in 2024 by Angelus News about women in leadership in the Church, Smerilli said: “We need both men and women in order to have a more complete picture and a different perspective on the reality we face.”

Since 2019, Smerilli has also served as a councilor of the Vatican City State and a consultant to the secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. In spring 2020, she was asked to coordinate the economic task force of the Vatican COVID-19 Commission.

Forbes’ ‘most influential religious sister’ 

French religious sister Nathalie Becquart became the highest-ranking woman to ever work in the Synod of Bishops after Pope Francis appointed her to the second-ranking position in February 2021. 

Becquart became the first woman undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, the advisory body to the pope himself. She went on to become the first woman to be a voting member in a Catholic synod, which is usually made up of bishops, priests, and some religious men, and Becquart was among many women who actively participated in the 2023 and 2024 Synod on Synodality.

Becquart holds a master’s degree in entrepreneurship from the HEC business school in Paris. Before she joined the Xavière Sisters at age 26 in 1995, she worked as a marketing consultant. 

In 2024, the magazine featured Becquart in its Forbes Most Influential Women “50 over 50” list, calling her “the highest-ranking woman in the Vatican.”

Because of her extensive background in youth ministry, Becquart was involved in the preparation for the Synod of Bishops on young people, faith, and vocational discernment in 2018 and was general coordinator of a pre-synod meeting, taking part as an auditor. 

Before her 2021 appointment, Becquart worked in the Synod of Bishops as a consultant to the general secretariat beginning in 2019. From 2012 to 2018, she oversaw the French bishops’ National Service for the Evangelization of Youth and for Vocations, a program designed to evangelize young people and cultivate a culture of vocations.

Vatican City, Apr 25, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’ tomb is made of Ligurian (Italian) marble with the sole inscription “FRANCISCUS” and a reproduction of his pectoral cross, according to new details released by the Vatican.

The burial place is located in the niche of the side aisle, between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of Our Lady of Health of the Roman People) and the Sforza Chapel in St. Mary Major Basilica. It is also located near the altar dedicated to St. Francis. 

Work to receive Pope Francis’ coffin began a few days ago, fulfilling the pontiff’s wish for a simple burial in this church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

In his autobiography, “Hope,” published earlier this year, Pope Francis made it clear that his burial place upon his death would be St. Mary Major Basilica.

“The Vatican is the home of my final service, not that of eternity. I will be in the room where the candelabras are now kept, close to that Queen of Peace, whose help I have always asked and by whom I have let myself be embraced during my pontificate more than a hundred times,” he stated.

“I thought they were going to bury him inside the crypt of the basilica, but it’s here,” said Valentina, one of the members of the faithful who visited the church.

She’s from Rome and pointed out that, with this gesture, Pope Francis wanted to seal his relationship with the Eternal City of which he was bishop.

Beside her, her husband, Francesco, said that during the Mass they attended a few minutes ago, they heard “the sounds of the workers at work.”

“The pope wanted to be buried at ground level and without ornamentation. It’s another example of the humility he has demonstrated throughout his 12 years of pontificate,” she noted.

The tomb is very close to the chapel of the “Salus Populi Romani” (“Health of the Roman People”), the Marian devotion where the pope regularly went to pray.

Antonieta, who said she was the same age as Pope Francis at 88, also came to the church to pray for the pontiff before a copy of the image of their shared, favorite Marian devotion.

The Holy Father entrusted all his apostolic journeys to Mary under this title every time he left from or returned to the Vatican.

He confided his concerns to her but also his physical pain. During the four times he was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, he wanted to offer his suffering to the Virgin Mary. He also did so at other difficult times, such as the pandemic.

“He had a great devotion to this church, and it wasn’t unusual to see him praying before its icon. His devotion is contagious and now, although I live near the Vatican and used to go to St. Peter’s, I often come to Mass here,” Antonieta said.

For Antonieta, also an octogenarian, the three kilometers (close to two miles) separating the Vatican basilica from St. Mary Major are no problem. The cortege accompanying the pope’s coffin will travel that same route after the funeral on Saturday, April 26.

But in addition to housing the Byzantine icon “Salus Populi Romani,” few know, for example, that St. Ignatius of Loyola also chose St. Mary Major to celebrate his first Mass as a priest. He later founded the Society of Jesus, for which this basilica was very important. In the aftermath of the Protestant revolt, the Marian image became a symbol of identity that clearly demonstrated adherence to the pope.

St. Mary Major Basilica also houses the remains of the architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, one of the greatest exponents of Baroque art, and Pauline, the sister of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Starting Saturday, they will share their final resting place with Pope Francis.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 10:13 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’ coffin will be sealed in a liturgical rite this evening ahead of his solemn funeral, set to take place the next morning on Saturday, April 26. 

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, will preside at the Rite of Sealing of the Coffin beginning at 8 p.m. Rome time April 25, the Vatican announced. After his death on April 21, the pope’s body — dressed in red liturgical vestments with the miter and pallium — had been placed in a simple wooden coffin with a zinc lining. 

Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re, Pietro Parolin, Roger Mahony, Domenique Mamberti, Mauro Gambetti, Baldassare Reina, and Konrad Krajewski have been invited to attend the ceremony, according to Vatican News. Other Holy See officials will be present to assist with the ceremony. 

The liturgy closing the coffin will end the three days of Pope Francis’ lying in state at St. Peter’s Basilica, during which a massive number of Catholics from around the world have come to pay their respects. As of Thursday evening, an estimated 90,000 people have entered St. Peter’s Basilica — many waiting hours in line — to catch a glimpse of the late pope. 

According to a booklet provided by the Holy See that lays out the liturgy, the master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, will read what is known as the “rogito,” or deed, a document summarizing the life and works of the pope that “recalls [Francis’] life and his most important works, for which we give thanks to God the Father.”

After the reading of the deed, the Canticle of Zechariah will be sung. Then Ravelli will offer prayers as a preface to covering Pope Francis’ face with a white silk veil. 

“May his face, which has lost the light of this world, be forever illuminated by the true light whose inexhaustible source is in you,” the prayers include. 

After covering Pope Francis’ face, the celebrant — Farrell — will sprinkle the pope’s body with holy water. Then Ravelli will place in the coffin a bag containing coins and medals minted during Francis’ pontificate, and a metal tube with a copy of the rogito, after having affixed the seal of the Office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.

The zinc lid will be placed on Francis’ coffin. On the lid is a cross, Pope Francis’ coat of arms, and a plaque bearing the name of the pontiff, the length of his life, and the length of his ministry as pope.

The zinc lining will then be soldered and the seals of the Cardinal Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, of the Office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, and of the Chapter of St. Peter will be pressed in. The wooden coffin will also then be closed; on the wooden lid are a cross and Francis’ coat of arms. 

An antiphon, several psalms, and the Regina Coeli (for the Easter season) are then prayed. 

The fact that Francis will have only a single coffin represents a departure from previous tradition — prior to reforms put in place by Pope Francis in 2024, popes had three nested coffins: one of cypress, one of lead, and one of oak, each with its own symbolism and function. 

The new papal funeral process instituted only months ago by Pope Francis stemmed from a desire “to simplify and adapt some rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the bishop of Rome better expresses the Church’s faith in the risen Christ, eternal Shepherd,” Ravelli has previously said.

The funeral itself, called the “Missa poenitentialis,” will be celebrated at 10 a.m. local time April 26 in St. Peter’s Square and marks the first day of the “Novendiales” — nine consecutive days of mourning for the pope.

Following the funeral, Pope Francis will be interred in the Basilica of St. Mary Major at his request, because of his strong devotion to Mary.

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis was the 265th successor of St. Peter. Here is a timeline of key events during his papacy:

2013

March 13 — About two weeks after Pope Benedict XVI steps down from the papacy, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is elected pope. He takes the papal name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi and proclaims from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Let us begin this journey, the bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another.”

March 14 — The day after he begins his pontificate, Pope Francis returns to his hotel to personally pay his hotel bill and collect his luggage.

July 8 — Pope Francis visits Italy’s island of Lampedusa and meets with a group of 50 migrants, most of whom are young men from Somalia and Eritrea. The island, which is about 200 miles off the coast of Tunisia, is a common entry point for migrants who flee parts of Africa and the Middle East to enter Europe. This is the pope’s first pastoral visit outside of Rome and sets the stage for making reaching out to the peripheries a significant focus.

July 23-28 — Pope Francis visits Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to participate in World Youth Day 2013. More than 3 million people from around the world attend the event.

July 29 — On the return flight from Brazil, Pope Francis gives his first papal news conference and sparks controversy by saying “if a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” The phrase is prompted by a reporter asking the pope a question about priests who have homosexual attraction.

Nov. 24 — Pope Francis publishes his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). The document illustrates the pope’s vision for how to approach evangelization in the modern world.

2014

Feb. 22 — Pope Francis holds his first papal consistory to appoint 19 new cardinals, including ones from countries in the developing world that have never previously been represented in the College of Cardinals, such as Haiti.

March 22 — Pope Francis creates the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The commission works to protect the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults, such as the victims of sexual abuse.

Oct. 5 — The Synod on the Family begins. The bishops discuss a variety of concerns, including single-parent homes, cohabitation, homosexual adoption of children, and interreligious marriages.

Dec. 6 — After facing some pushback for his efforts to reform the Roman Curia, Pope Francis discusses his opinion in an interview with La Nacion, an Argentine news outlet: “Resistance is now evident. And that is a good sign for me, getting the resistance out into the open, no stealthy mumbling when there is disagreement. It’s healthy to get things out into the open, it’s very healthy.”

2015

Jan. 18 — To conclude a trip to Asia, Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Manila, Philippines. Approximately 6 million to 7 million people attend the record-setting Mass, despite heavy rain.

March 23 — Pope Francis visits Naples, Italy, to show the Church’s commitment to helping the fight against corruption and organized crime in the city.

May 24 — To emphasize the Church’s mission to combat global warming and care for the environment, Pope Francis publishes the encyclical Laudato Si’, which urges people to take care of the environment and encourages political action to address climate problems.

Sept. 19-22 — Pope Francis visits Cuba and meets with Fidel Castro in the first papal visit to the country since Pope John Paul II in 1998. During his homily, Francis discusses the dignity of the human person: “Being a Christian entails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for it.”

Sept. 22-27 — After departing from Cuba, Pope Francis makes his first papal visit to the United States. In Washington, D.C., he speaks to a joint session of Congress, in which he urges lawmakers to work toward promoting the common good, and canonizes the Franciscan missionary St. Junípero Serra. He also attends the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which focuses on celebrating the gift of the family.

Oct. 4 — Pope Francis begins the second Synod on the Family to address issues within the modern family, such as single-parent homes, cohabitation, poverty, and abuse.

Oct. 18 — The pope canonizes St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azélie “Zelie” Guérin. The married couple were parents to five nuns, including St. Therese of Lisieux. They are the first married couple to be canonized together.

Dec. 8 — Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy begins. The year focuses on God’s mercy and forgiveness and people’s redemption from sin. The pope delegates certain priests in each diocese to be Missionaries of Mercy who have the authority to forgive sins that are usually reserved for the Holy See.

2016

March 19 — Pope Francis publishes the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which discusses a wide variety of issues facing the modern family based on discussions from the two synods on the family. The pope garners significant controversy from within the Church for comments he makes in Chapter 8 about Communion for the divorced and remarried.

April 16 — After visiting refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis allows three Muslim refugee families to join him on his flight back to Rome. He says the move was not a political statement.

July 26-31 — Pope Francis visits Krakow, Poland, as part of the World Youth Day festivities. About 3 million young Catholic pilgrims from around the world attend.

Sept. 4 — The pope canonizes St. Teresa of Calcutta, who is also known as Mother Teresa. The saint, a nun from Albania, dedicated her life to missionary and charity work, primarily in India.

Sept. 30-Oct. 2 — Pope Francis visits Georgia and Azerbaijan on his 16th trip outside of Rome since the start of his papacy. His trip focuses on Catholic relations with Orthodox Christians and Muslims.

Oct. 4 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to Amatrice, Italy, to pray for the victims of an earthquake in central Italy that killed nearly 300 people.

2017

May 12-13 — In another papal trip, Francis travels to Fatima, Portugal, to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. May 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Marian apparition to three children in the city.

July 11 — Pope Francis adds another category of Christian life suitable for the consideration of sainthood: “offering of life.” The category is distinct from martyrdom, which only applies to someone who is killed for his or her faith. The new category applies to those who died prematurely through an offering of their life to God and neighbor.

Nov. 19 — On the first-ever World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis eats lunch with 4,000 poor and people in need in Rome.

Nov. 27-Dec. 2 — In another trip to Asia, Pope Francis travels to Myanmar and Bangladesh. He visits landmarks and meets with government officials, Catholic clergy, and Buddhist monks. He also preaches the Gospel and promotes peace in the region.

2018

Jan. 15-21 — The pope takes another trip to Latin America, this time visiting Chile and Peru. The pontiff meets with government officials and members of the clergy while urging the faithful to remain close to the clergy and reject secularism. The Chilean visit leads to controversy over Chilean clergy sex abuse scandals.

Aug. 2 — The Vatican formally revises No. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which concerns the death penalty. The previous text suggested the death penalty could be permissible in certain circumstances, but the revision states that the death penalty is “inadmissible.”

Aug. 25 — Archbishop Carlo Viganò, former papal nuncio to the United States, publishes an 11-page letter calling for the resignation of Pope Francis and accusing him and other Vatican officials of covering up sexual abuse including allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The pope initially does not directly respond to the letter, but nine months after its publication he denies having prior knowledge about McCarrick’s conduct.

Aug. 25-26 — Pope Francis visits Dublin, Ireland, to attend the World Meeting of Families. The theme is “the Gospel of family, joy for the world.”

Oct. 3-28 — The Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment takes place. The synod focuses on best practices to teach the faith to young people and to help them discern God’s will.

2019

Jan. 22-27 — The third World Youth Day during Pope Francis’ pontificate takes place during these six days in Panama City, Panama. Young Catholics from around the world gather for the event, with approximately 3 million people in attendance.

Feb. 4 — Pope Francis signs a joint document in with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, titled the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” The document focuses on people of different faiths uniting together to live peacefully and advance a culture of mutual respect.

Feb. 21-24 — The Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church, which is labeled the Vatican Sexual Abuse Summit, takes place. The meeting focuses on sexual abuse scandals in the Church and emphasizes responsibility, accountability, and transparency.

Oct. 6-27 — The Church holds the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, which is also known as the Amazon Synod. The synod is meant to present ways in which the Church can better evangelize the Amazon region but leads to controversy when carved images of a pregnant Amazonian woman, referred to by the pope as Pachamama, are used in several events and displayed in a basilica near the Vatican.

Oct. 13 — St. John Henry Newman, an Anglican convert to Catholicism and a cardinal, is canonized by Pope Francis. Newman’s writings inspired Catholic student associations at nonreligious colleges and universities in the United States and other countries.

2020

March 15 — Pope Francis takes a walking pilgrimage in Rome to the chapel of the crucifix and prays for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crucifix was carried through Rome during the plague of 1522.

March 27 — Pope Francis gives an extraordinary “urbi et orbi” blessing in an empty and rain-covered St. Peter’s Square, praying for the world during the coronavirus pandemic.

2021

March 5-8 — In his first papal trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis becomes the first pope to visit Iraq. On his trip, he signs a joint statement with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemning extremism and promoting peace.

July 3 — Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis, is indicted in a Vatican court for embezzlement, money laundering, and other crimes. The pope gives approval for the indictment.

July 4 — Pope Francis undergoes colon surgery for diverticulitis, a common condition in older people. The Vatican releases a statement that assures the pope “reacted well” to the surgery. Francis is released from the hospital after 10 days.

July 16 — Pope Francis issues a motu proprio titled Traditionis Custodes. The document imposes heavy restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.

Dec. 2-6 — The pope travels to Cyprus and Greece. The trip includes another visit to the Greek island of Lesbos to meet with migrants.

2022

Jan. 11 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to a record store in Rome called StereoSound. The pope, who has an affinity for classical music, blesses the newly renovated store.

March 19 — The pope promulgates Praedicate Evangelium, which reforms the Roman Curia. The reforms emphasize evangelization and establish more opportunities for the laity to be in leadership positions.

May 5 — Pope Francis is seen in a wheelchair for the first time in public and begins to use one more frequently. The pope has been suffering from knee problems for months.

July 24-30 — In his first papal visit to Canada, Pope Francis apologizes for the harsh treatment of the indigenous Canadians, saying many Christians and members of the Catholic Church were complicit.

2023

Jan. 31-Feb. 5 — Pope Francis travels to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. During his visit, the pope condemns political violence in the countries and promotes peace. He also participates in an ecumenical prayer service with Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Moderator of the Church of Scotland Iain Greenshields.

March 29-April 1 — Pope Francis is hospitalized for a respiratory infection. During his stay at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, he visits the pediatric cancer ward and baptizes a newborn baby.  

April 5 — The pope appears in the Disney documentary “The Pope: Answers,” which is in Spanish, answering six “hot-button” issues from members of Gen Z from various backgrounds. The group discusses immigration, depression, abortion, clergy sexual and psychological abuse, transgenderism, pornography, and loss of faith.

April 28-30 — Pope Francis visits Hungary to meet with government officials, civil society members, bishops, priests, seminarians, Jesuits, consecrated men and women, and pastoral workers. He celebrates Mass on the final day of the trip in Kossuth Lajos Square.

June 7 — The Vatican announces that Pope Francis will undergo abdominal surgery that afternoon under general anesthesia due to a hernia that is causing painful, recurring, and worsening symptoms. In his general audience that morning before the surgery, Francis says he intends to publish an apostolic letter on St. Thérèse of Lisieux, “patroness of the missions,” to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.

June 15 — After successful surgery and a week of recovery, Pope Francis is released from Gemelli Hospital.

Aug. 2-6 — Pope Francis travels to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day 2023, taking place from Aug. 1-6. He meets with Church and civil leaders ahead of presiding at the welcoming Mass and Stations of the Cross. He also hears the confessions of several pilgrims. On Aug. 5, he visits the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, where he prays the rosary with young people with disabilities. That evening he presides over the vigil and on Sunday, Aug. 6, he celebrates the closing Mass, where he urges the 1.5 million young people present to “be not afraid,” echoing the words of the founder of World Youth Days, St. John Paul II.

Aug. 31-Sept. 4 — Pope Francis travels to Mongolia, the world’s most sparsely populated sovereign country. The trip makes Francis the first pope to visit the Asian country that shares a 2,880-mile border with China, its most significant economic partner. Mongolia has a population of about 1,300 Catholics in a country of more than 3 million people.

Sept. 22-23 — On a two-day trip to Marseille, France, Pope Francis meets with local civil and religious leaders and participates in the Mediterranean Encounter, a gathering of some 120 young people of various creeds with bishops from 30 countries.

Oct. 4-29 — The Vatican hosts the first of two monthlong global assemblies of the Synod on Synodality, initiated by Pope Francis in 2021 to enhance the communion, participation, and mission of the Church. Pope Francis celebrates the closing Mass of the synod at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29. The second and final global assembly will take place at the Vatican in October 2024.

Nov. 25 — Pope Francis visits the hospital briefly for precautionary testing after coming down with the flu earlier in the day. Although he still participates in scheduled activities, other officials read his prepared remarks. The Vatican on Nov. 28 cancels the pope’s planned Dec. 1–3 trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate conference, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech, due to his illness.

Dec. 18 — The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issues the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which authorizes nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and couples in “irregular situations.” Various bishops from around the world voice both support for and criticism of the document.

2024

Jan. 14 — Pope Francis for the first time responds publicly to questions about Fiducia Supplicans in an interview on an Italian television show. The pope underlines that “the Lord blesses everyone” and that a blessing is an invitation to enter into a conversation “to see what the road is that the Lord proposes to them.”

Feb. 11 — In a ceremony attended by Argentine president Javier Milei, Pope Francis canonizes María Antonia of St. Joseph — known affectionately in the pope’s home country as “Mama Antula” — in a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. The president and the former archbishop of Buenos Aires embrace after the ceremony. Pope Francis, who has not returned to his homeland since becoming pope in 2013, has said he wants to visit Argentina in the second half of this year.

March 13 — Pope Francis celebrates 11 years as supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

April 8 — The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith releases Dignitas Infinita (“Infinite Dignity”), a document that reaffirms the Church’s perennial opposition to abortion, euthanasia, and gender ideology. 

May 19 — Pope Francis appears on CBS’ “60 Minutes” in an interview with Norah O’Donnell, where he states categorically that women’s ordination to the priesthood and the diaconate is off the table.

June 14 — Pope Francis becomes the first pope to address the G7 Summit in the southern Italian region of Puglia. In his remarks, he stresses that human dignity requires that the decisions of artificial intelligence (AI) be under the control of human beings. During the three-day event, the pope also meets with U.S. President Joe Biden.

Sept. 2-13 — Pope Francis embarks on a 12-day trip of more than 20,000 miles over seven flights through Asia and Oceania. The trip to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore is his most ambitious international trip yet and the longest of his 11-year pontificate. In East Timor, 600,000 Catholics attend Mass with the Holy Father.

Oct. 2-27 — The three-year Synod on Synodality concludes with the final session in Rome and the adoption of the final report, which in a surprise move Pope Francis signs immediately, stating he will not issue a separate postsynodal document.

Dec. 7 — Pope Francis holds a consistory at the Vatican in which he creates 21 new cardinals, including Archbishop Frank Leo of Toronto; Archbishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu of Tehran-Isfahan, Iran; and Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, reflecting the pope’s emphasis on the Church’s global mission.

Dec. 24 — On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opens the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica to officially launch the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

2025

Jan. 14 — “Hope,” Pope Francis’ autobiography, is released. The book marks the first time a pope has provided a first-person narration of the episodes that have marked his entire life, in this case from his childhood in Argentina in a family of Italian immigrants to becoming the successor of St. Peter.

Feb. 14 — Pope Francis is hospitalized with bronchitis and later develops double pneumonia.

March 13 — While still in Gemelli Hosptial in Rome for treatment for respiratory illnesses, Pope Francis celebrates the 12th anniversay of his election to the papacy.

March 23 — Pope Francis is released from Gemelli Hospital. Before returning to his apartment at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican, where he is expected to convalesce for several months, the Holy Father appears on a fifth-floor balcony of the hospital, marking his first public appearance in weeks.

April 6 — Pope Francis makes a surprise appearance in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of the Sick, sharing profound reflections on suffering, care, and the transformative power of illness.

April 9 — King Charles III and Queen Camilla meet with the pope in a brief encounter, where they wish one another well at the pope’s private residence.

April 10 — Pope Francis makes a surprise second appearance at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, arriving in a wheelchair around 12:30 p.m. local time. In videos posted on social media, the pope is seen without his usual white cassock and skullcap, wearing dark pants and a white shirt covered with a striped poncho. A Vatican spokesman says the pope had simply wanted to get some air and then spontaneously decided to extend his time outside of his Vatican residence by going to the basilica “as he was” to pray at the tomb of Pope Pius X and before the Chair of St. Peter.

April 12 — The pope makes a prayerful pilgrimage to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore ahead of Holy Week celebrations.

April 13 — On Palm Sunday, Pope Francis briefly greets thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square to celebrate Palm Sunday. In his prepared homily, read by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, the pope exhorts Christians to “experience the great miracle of mercy” by accompanying Jesus in his journey to the cross.

April 16 — Pope Francis meets with medical teams who cared for him at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and thanks them for their work and prayers for his health and recovery.

April 17 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to Rome’s Regina Coeli prison on Holy Thursday, continuing his long-standing tradition of beginning the paschal Triduum with prisoners despite his ongoing health concerns.

April 20 — U.S. Vice President JD Vance meets the pope briefly in the morning at the Casa Santa Marta. Afterward, Pope Francis appears at the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica in a wheelchair, where he gives the traditional “urbi et orbi” blessing and wishes the pilgrims below a happy Easter. After the blessing, the pope greets jubilant pilgrims from the popemobile to shouts of joy from the crowd.

April 21 — Pope Francis passes away at 7:35 a.m. local time on Easter Monday at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.

This story was last updated on April 22, 2025.

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Like his predecessors, Pope Francis’ pontificate was marked not only by historic events and memorable themes but also by his personality, character, and style. A look at these more personal moments — many of them unscripted and spontaneous — reminds us that beneath the white cassock is always a man who brings his own charisms to the role. 

Francis was a pope of notable firsts — the first Jesuit to be elected pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first shepherd of the Catholic Church from outside of Europe since the eighth century. He orchestrated numerous significant first-time events — such as welcoming the Coptic Orthodox pope to speak during a general audience and to celebrate the Divine Liturgy at St. John Lateran, the Latin pope’s cathedral. 

Francis was also a pope of technological firsts — the first to use video conferencing to attempt to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia, and the first to take personal phone calls in the middle of general audiences. There were reports he was the first to snap a papal group selfie, though it appears that was false. (Benedict XVI appeared in a selfie, but only after retirement.)  

As the Church and the world reflect on the legacy and papacy of Francis, CNA highlights some of his more personal moments — glimpses into the man and shepherd who took the name of the best-known saint in Christendom and led the Church during difficult times. 

Kissing a disfigured man  

Francis constantly invited the faithful to seek out the disenfranchised and to always witness to the value of every human life, including the weakest and most vulnerable. Francis put that into practice in a particularly powerful way one day in St. Peter’s Square when he embraced and kissed an Italian man named Vinicio Riva. 

Riva, who suffered from a condition called neurofibromatosis type 1, which caused disfiguring sores all over his body, told CNN that Francis didn’t hesitate to embrace him. “He didn’t have any fear of my illness,” Riva said. “He embraced me without speaking … I quivered. I felt a great warmth.” 

Visiting a Rome record shop 

Reuters reported that on Jan. 11, 2022, Francis left his living quarters at the Vatican hoping to pay a quick visit to friends who own a small record store in Rome. The pope reportedly had visited the shop many times before he was elected, sometimes purchasing classical music records and CDs. 

While there is no verification of him buying anything during his 15-minute visit as pope, a Rome Reports TV reporter happened to be in the area waiting for a taxi and spotted Francis coming out of the store. He filmed Francis with his smartphone and posted it on Twitter, where it went viral.  

Later, the journalist wrote to the pope to apologize, according to the Reuters article. Francis replied that the situation was just “bad luck” and that “one should not lose one’s sense of humor.”  

Clowning around 

Francis had a soft spot for newlyweds. In 2013, he wore a red nose to greet a newly married couple who were volunteers at a charity that serves children through clown therapy. The image of him joking around with a clown nose spread across the globe as papal watchers remarked at how much Francis seemed to love wisecracks. The Pontifical Mission Societies even launched a #JokeWithThePope initiative in September 2013.

In fact, joy was a theme Francis liked to focus on as he called on the faithful to be joyful and not be “sourpusses.” In fact, Francis’ first encyclical was called “The Joy of the Gospel.”

Holy matrimony 35,000 feet up 

In January 2018, while on a papal visit to Chile, Pope Francis was asked by a Catholic couple — two flight attendants on his flight — if he would bless their marriage.  

The couple had been married legally but told BBC they were unable to conduct a religious ceremony because of the damage an earthquake did to their church in the Chilean capital of Santiago. 

Pope Francis offered to perform a short marriage ceremony for the couple during one of their flights together. A cardinal traveling with him provided a handwritten marriage document that was signed by the newly married couple and their witness.

Interviewed by the homeless  

Indicative of his great affection for the poor, Pope Francis granted a group of homeless and disadvantaged people the opportunity to interview him at his residence, Domus Sanctae Marthae (Casa Santa Marta).

Members of Association Lazare, a French organization whose young members help provide shelter to those without homes and jobs, asked questions gathered from impoverished persons from 80 countries. The questions included queries about his salary as pope, his favorite saint (St. Thérèse of Lisieux), and whether he used to have any girlfriends.

The questions, along with the pope’s answers, were then published in a book released in Italian, Spanish, and French on April 1, 2022, called “In dialogo con il mondo: Il Pape Risponde” (“In Dialogue with the World: The Pope Replies”).

A letter to an artisanal pasta maker 

In late January 2025, ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, reported on a letter Pope Francis sent to an Italian woman named “Nunzia” who has dedicated her life to keeping alive a long-standing tradition of making orecchiette, a pasta from the Apulia region of southern Italy. Orecchiette has become a symbol of the gastronomic tradition of Bari Vecchia where many women prepare it on the streets of the historic town.  

The pope, known for his love of pasta, expressed in his personal letter the importance of “keeping roots and ancient traditions alive and encouraging their integration so they can last over time.”   

Moved by his letter, Nunzia said the pope’s words had “made her proud” and “given her strength.” 

Personal calls of encouragement and support 

Pope Francis reached out to many people by phone during his pontificate — especially those affected by illness and the death of a loved one. He called earthquake victims, the dying, and parents who had lost their children. Sometimes he made calls to encourage, to say happy birthday, or to find out more about a project or event. 

One of Francis’ personal calls was to a young parish priest in Naples, Father Michele Madonna, who was organizing “Christian raves” for young people in his community. The pope was curious about this popular ministry and called to ask the priest about it. 

A couple of months later, the pope called another priest from Naples — Father Maurizio Patriciello — who had been threatened by the local Mafia and needed security to go about his day. Francis wanted to encourage him. 

One Christmas Day Francis also called a young husband and father in the southern Italian town of Pezze di Greco whose 41-year-old wife died of childbirth complications a week after giving birth to twins. The pope’s call was facilitated by the couple’s parish priest, who thought such a gesture would bring comfort to the grieving husband.  

Perhaps the personal calls that made the biggest impression were the daily check-ins that Pope Francis made to Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of Holy Family Parish in Gaza. Romanelli said for the past 19 months, the pope maintained constant contact with him.  

“He was concerned about how we were doing, whether we had eaten, about the children,” the priest said.  

Pope Francis didn’t stop calling to console them even when he was sick in the hospital for 38 days with double pneumonia.  

He made his last call to the Gaza parish on Saturday night, April 19, moments before going to St. Peter’s Basilica to pray before the Easter Vigil. “He told us he was praying for us, blessed us, and thanked us for our prayers on his behalf,” Romanelli said.

Blessing the world from St. Peter’s Square when the world shut down 

One of the most iconic moments of Pope Francis’ pontificate was the night he walked alone into an empty St. Peter’s Square in the rain at the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdown to deliver a blessing to the world. 

The pope’s “urbi et orbi” (“To the city and to the world”) blessing is typically reserved for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday when thousands of people flock to St. Peter’s Square to receive it. This time, however, the pope was alone, in silence, praying by faint candlelight, addressing the entire world.  

Over 11 million people tuned in to watch Pope Francis deliver the hourlong blessing.

He also prayed before the “Miraculous Crucifix,” a wooden cross kept in the Church of St. Marcellus that, according to tradition, helped saved Rome from the plague in 1522.

“For weeks now it has been evening,” Francis said to the world that night. “Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets, and our cities; it has taken over our lives.”

His prayer and blessing invoked God’s mercy and protection and offered words of hope to a world plunged into fear and uncertainty.

CNA Newsroom, Apr 25, 2025 / 02:00 am (CNA).

Cardinal Angelo Becciu is reportedly seeking to participate in the upcoming conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor despite having been stripped of his cardinalatial privileges in 2020 and later convicted of financial crimes.

The former deputy Vatican secretary of state told Italian media as he left his native Sardinia for Rome on April 22 that he would “participate in the conclave,” claiming his cardinal privileges “remain intact” and that there was “no formal or legal impediment” to his voting.

As the National Catholic Register reports, the prelate was convicted in 2023 of embezzlement, aggravated fraud, and abuse of office, handing him a jail sentence of five years and six months in prison, a fine of 8,000 euros, and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

Becciu has always maintained his innocence and is currently appealing against the conviction through the Vatican’s Court of Appeal, which began hearings last October but has yet to give a ruling. 

Pope Francis invited Cardinal Becciu to attend a consistory in August 2022, an invitation described as a “private act of pastoral mercy” but not a step toward rehabilitation or reinstatement of his cardinalatial rights. 

Becciu argued that the 2022 invitation was a reason for his eligibility to vote. The cardinal took part in the first general congregation on April 22, in accordance with cardinalatial rules, as both non-electors and electors can attend them. He is listed in the documentation under the “non-electors.”

The Vatican’s website also officially lists him as a “non-elector.”

Vatican City, Apr 24, 2025 / 17:28 pm (CNA).

Father Arturo Sosa, SJ, superior general of the Society of Jesus, reflected on the first Jesuit pope in a press conference on Thursday, saying Francis “did not seek to please everyone” or to measure himself by a popularity index.

“Once he chose to be a disciple of Jesus, his deep motivation in life was to put God’s will into practice,” Sosa said, calling the late pontiff “a man of prayer, who asked for prayers to make decisions according to the will of God.”

During the press conference, held in the Jesuit general curia in Rome, Sosa also answered a question about what qualities are needed in the next pope. “Undoubtedly, we are looking for another man of God,” he said.

“And after that, for me, it is important to have a pope with a universal outlook,” he added, drawing a distinction with what he called an “international outlook.”

The Jesuit superior defended Francis against accusations he caused controversy — like with Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican’s declaration on same-sex blessings — or fell short in some areas by saying he was not the source of problems in the Church but inherited problems that were already there.

“Pope Francis helped put the difference of positions on the table” and provoked dialogue, Sosa said, stressing that the late pope wanted to listen to everyone.

“I don’t think of Pope Francis as a reformer,” Sosa also said. “I think of him as someone who continued the reform that the Church has always carried out.”

About Francis’ record on abuse, Sosa said the pope “always acknowledged his limitations, his mistakes, and his slowness” to respond to cases. “This is not about giving Pope Francis a medal or giving him a grade but about learning about potential criticism and mistakes.”

“With regard to abuse cases, I think the Church is not in the same place when Pope Francis was elected. That’s without a doubt. It hasn’t been a straight line… but the Church has advanced in that direction,” he added.

According to the superior general, Pope Francis’ most urgent legacy for today will be his calls for peace: “I think Pope Francis has shouted in every moment, on every occasion, about peace.”

“The world needs peace and peace is built by us,” Sosa added. “Peace means to put aside any other priority than people and the dignity of people. And peace means justice with the poor. I think the constant prayer and the constant argument about peace by Pope Francis is a very important message for today.”

Pope Francis, who joined the Society of Jesus in 1958, was the first-ever Jesuit to be pope. During his international trips, he would always spend time with local Jesuits in the countries he visited. He also met with Jesuits in Rome during their 36th general congregation on Oct. 24, 2016.

“He established a very fraternal relationship with the Jesuits,” Sosa said on April 24. “We will end this period of Pope Francis thanking the Lord.”

Munich, Germany, Apr 24, 2025 / 14:31 pm (CNA).

Like all popes since the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis made a point of reaching out to non-Catholics, building bridges and engaging in dialogue. His consistent efforts toward Christian unity over his 12-year pontificate produced several historic moments in ecumenical relations. 

While his interreligious achievements — like the 2019 Abu Dhabi declaration on human fraternity, signed by Pope Francis and the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb — have often garnered greater attention, the pope’s ecumenical initiatives with other Christian communities have also left a meaningful mark on his legacy. 

First pope to meet head of Russian Orthodox Church 

During his 12-year pontificate, Francis took important, even historical, ecumenical initiatives. In 2016, he became the first pope ever to meet the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. 

Early on, in November 2014, the pope had already told Moscow Patriarch Kirill: “I’ll go wherever you want. You call me and I’ll go.” The meeting eventually took place, after months of secret planning, on Feb. 12, 2016, at José Martí International Airport near Havana, Cuba. The public was only notified a week in advance. 

The meeting lasted roughly two hours, after which a joint declaration was signed and gifts were exchanged. The joint declaration focused on anti-Christian persecution, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. 

It also lamented the hostilities in Ukraine, which were already underway for several years, although the full Russian invasion would not take place until 2022. In addition, the text voiced concern about the threat of secularism to religious freedom and the Christian roots of Europe. 

Other topics of discussion included poverty, the crisis in the family, abortion, and euthanasia. Together, the pope and the patriarch exhorted young Christians to live their faith in the world. 

In a brief speech after signing the declaration, Pope Francis said: “We speak as brothers, we have the same baptism, we are bishops. We speak of our churches, and we agree that unity is achieved by walking forward. We speak clearly, without ambiguity, and I must say I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in our conversation.” 

Finally, the pope expressed his wish that “all this” may be “for the glory of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for the good of the whole faithful people of God, under the mantle of the holy Mother of God.”

In the following years, another meeting with Patriarch Kirill was planned but never became a reality after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kirill explicitly and outspokenly sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin in justifying the invasion. 

On March 16, 2022, just weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine, the pope and the patriarch spoke via video call. “The conversation centered on the war in Ukraine and the role of Christians and their pastors in doing everything to ensure that peace prevails,” the Vatican press office said at the time. 

The Vatican noted that the pope thanked Patriarch Kirill for the meeting and agreed with him that “the Church must not use the language of politics but the language of Jesus.” 

“We are shepherds of the same holy people who believe in God, in the Holy Trinity, in the holy Mother of God: that is why we must unite in the effort to help peace, to help those who suffer, to seek ways of peace, to stop the shooting,” the press office quoted Pope Francis as saying. 

In April 2022, the pope told Argentine newspaper La Nación that “the Vatican has had to cancel a second meeting with Patriarch Kirill.” 

At the time, Francis said his relationship with Kirill was “very good,” but “our diplomacy understood that a meeting of the two of us at this time could cause a lot of confusion.” 

Lutheran dialogue 

Another important ecumenical initiative of Pope Francis was his trip to Sweden on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2016, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant revolt, which began in Germany with Martin Luther but also swept through Sweden. 

“We remember this anniversary with a renewed spirit and in the recognition that Christian unity is a priority, because we realize that much more unites us than separates us,” Francis said at the time. 

In a joint statement with the president of the Lutheran World Federation, Munib Yunan, the pope declared: “Fifty years of sustained and fruitful ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans have helped us to overcome many differences and have deepened our mutual understanding and trust. At the same time, we have drawn closer to one another through joint service to our neighbors — often in circumstances of suffering and persecution.” 

“Through dialogue and shared witness we are no longer strangers,” the statement added. “Rather, we have learned that what unites us is greater than what divides us.” 

“By drawing close in faith to Christ, by praying together, by listening to one another, by living Christ’s love in our relationships, we, Catholics and Lutherans, open ourselves to the power of the Triune God,” Pope Francis and Yunan stated. “Rooted in Christ and witnessing to him, we renew our determination to be faithful heralds of God’s boundless love for all humanity.” 

Building on work of predecessors 

Most of Pope Francis’ ecumenical efforts consisted of continuing and building upon the work of his predecessors. Like them, he received many ecumenical delegations in the Vatican, took part in ecumenical gatherings, and sent special messages for certain occasions. 

Theological breakthroughs uniting major groups of Christians to the Catholic Church were not made, although a study document titled “The Bishop of Rome: Primacy and Synodality in Ecumenical Dialogue and Responses to the Encyclical Ut Unum Sint” was published by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity “with the agreement of His Holiness Pope Francis” in 2024. 

The text was intended to outline the entire ecumenical debate on papal primacy and provide suggestions “for a ministry of unity in a reunited Church,” including “a differentiated exercise of the primacy of the bishop of Rome.”

Vatican City, Apr 24, 2025 / 13:46 pm (CNA).

Following the death of Pope Francis, the Vatican has announced which cardinals will offer the traditional “Novendialies” Masses — nine days of mourning marked by solemn Masses offered for the repose of the soul of the deceased pope.

In keeping with ancient custom, each day of the Novendiales includes a requiem Mass following the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (2024). While the Masses are open to the public, each day traditionally focuses on a particular community or group associated with the pope’s ministry from the Diocese of Rome to the Eastern Churches.

The first Mass of the Novendiales will be the funeral of Pope Francis, held on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square with the nine days of mourning concluding on Sunday, May 4. 

The second Novendiales Mass will also be in St. Peter’s Square with tens of thousands of young people taking part in the still-ongoing Jubilee of Teenagers, which had previously been scheduled to include the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis. The Mass the day after the funeral is also the Novendiales Mass in which all Vatican employees and their families are especially invited to attend.

Until May 4, the remainder of the Masses will take place in the evening inside of St. Peter’s Basilica, each presided over by a different cardinal and designated for a particular group in the Church. A minor change to the schedule was already announced with Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández replacing Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell for the sixth Mass on May 1.

Below is the full schedule of Novendiales Masses and the cardinals who will preside:

Day 1: Saturday, April 26 — Funeral of Pope Francis

Presider: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals

Time: 10 a.m. | Location: St. Peter’s Square

Day 2: Sunday, April 27 — Mass for the Jubilee of Teenagers/for Vatican employees and faithful

Presider: Cardinal Pietro Parolin, former Vatican secretary of state

Time: 10:30 a.m. | Location: St. Peter’s Square

Day 3: Monday, April 28 — For Catholics and clergy in Rome

Presider: Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome

Time: 5 p.m. | Location: Inside St. Peter’s Basilica

Day 4: Tuesday, April 29 — For chapters of the papal basilicas

Presider: Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica

Time: 5 p.m.| Location: St. Peter’s Basilica

Day 5: Wednesday, April 30 — For the papal chapel

Presider: Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, vice dean of the College of Cardinals

Time: 5 p.m.| Location: St. Peter’s Basilica

Note: Concelebration reserved for cardinals only

Day 6: Thursday, May 1 — For the Roman Curia

Presider: Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, former prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

Time: 5 p.m.| Location: St. Peter’s Basilica

Day 7: Friday, May 2 — For the Eastern Churches

Presider: Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, former prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches

Time: 5 p.m.| Location: St. Peter’s Basilica

Day 8: Saturday, May 3 — For institutes of consecrated life and apostolic societies

Presider: Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, former prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life

Time: 5 p.m.| Location: St. Peter’s Basilica

Day 9: Sunday, May 4 — For the papal chapel

Presider: Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, protodeacon of the College of Cardinals

Time: 5 p.m.| Location: St. Peter’s Basilica

Note: Concelebration reserved for cardinals only

CNA Staff, Apr 24, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Celebrities who had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis during his papacy are remembering the late pontiff, sharing their experiences with the pope and reflecting on his warmth and legacy. 

Actor Antonio Banderas, known for his role in the “Zorro” movie series among other films, paid tribute to Pope Francis in an Instagram post.

“Pope Francisco has died — a man who, at the head of the Catholic Church, showed kindness, love, and mercy to the neediest people,” he wrote.

The Catholic actor was recently seen participating in a Palm Sunday procession with the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Tears and Favors, in which he is a steward, in his hometown of Málaga, Spain. 

Comedian Jimmy Fallon shared a photo of himself with the late pope taken last year during a gathering of comics hosted at the Vatican that included Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien, Jim Gaffigan, Chris Rock, and others.

“It was an honor meeting Pope Francis last summer. I’m glad I made you laugh. Thank you for your encouraging words. Rest in peace,” Fallon wrote on Instagram. 

Whoopi Goldberg, who met the pope on two occasions including at last year’s event with comedians at the Vatican, wrote on Instagram that Francis “seemed to remember that Christ’s love enveloped believer and [nonbeliever].”

The comedian compared Francis to St. John XXIII and remembered him for his “love of humanity and laughter.”

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio recalled his “deeply moving” meeting with the Holy Father in 2016.

“Pope Francis was a transformational leader — not only for the Catholic Church but also for environmental reform and activism,” DiCaprio wrote.

DiCaprio, a lifelong environmentalist, said the pope “demonstrated a deep and unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship, most notably through his groundbreaking 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’.”

He called the environmental encyclical a “powerful document” that “served as a clarion call for a fundamental shift in how we relate to the planet.”

During his 2016 meeting with the pope, the two discussed climate change. DiCaprio called the experience “enlightening, deeply moving, and thought-provoking.”

“Pope Francis was one of the most extraordinary spiritual leaders of our time. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of environmentalists around the world. May he rest in peace,” he concluded.

Catholic filmmaker Martin Scorcese called the Holy Father “a remarkable human being” in a statement shared with ABC News. 

“He acknowledged his own failings. He radiated wisdom. He radiated goodness. He had an ironclad commitment to the good. He knew in his soul that ignorance was a terrible plague on humanity. So he never stopped learning,” Scorsese said.

He added: “The loss for me runs deep — I was lucky enough to know him, and I will miss his presence and his warmth. The loss for the world is immense. But he left a light behind, and it can never be extinguished.”

Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, known for his role as Jesus Christ in the series “The Chosen,” met Pope Francis in 2021 and 2022. 

In a post on Instagram, Roumie wrote: “As a Catholic, getting to meet the pope, the successor to St. Peter, is one of the grandest honors a person can receive. The fact that I had been given the grace to meet him twice is something for which I will ever be profoundly grateful.”

“His humility, his kindness and his gentleness were the marks of his pontificate for me; traits that I endeavor to embody in my own life, especially in my encounters with people,” he added.

Roumie recalled the Holy Father’s “model of Christ’s love towards humanity,” which “always felt like a direct invitation to ‘follow him’ along that path, that ‘narrow road’ however challenging it could sometimes be in this existence; always knowing that in the end, it is worth everything.”

“You will be missed Santo Padre,” he continued. “But now you dwell in that heavenly place, in the eternal presence of he who created you and formed you … you are, once again, his. And what a place it must be!” 

Another Catholic actor who recalled a special meeting with Pope Francis was David Henrie, best known for his role as Justin Russo in Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place.”

When Henrie and his wife, Maria, met the pope in 2018, the couple was seeking prayers after experiencing three miscarriages. Henrie asked the Holy Father to pray for him and his wife as they were trying to conceive. Pope Francis took their hands, gave them a special blessing, and told them not to worry — that a baby would be coming. Nine months after this meeting, the Henries welcomed their first baby into the world, Pia Philomena Francesca Henrie — Francesca, in honor of Pope Francis.

Henrie wrote in an Instagram post: “May his soul rest in peace. After three miscarriages we got to receive a special blessing from Pope Francis. Nine months later our little Pia Francesca was born. I’ll forever be grateful for that moment. Let’s pray for the next pope!”

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 24, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

The Catholic personal prelature Opus Dei has significantly reduced the scope of its two-week general congress that began this week due to the death of Pope Francis two days before the assembly’s scheduled start date.

Opus Dei had planned to revise its statutes to conform them to Pope Francis’ motu proprio Ad Charisma Tuendum. Essentially, the pontiff’s directive subjected Opus Dei to the leadership of the Dicastery for the Clergy rather than the Dicastery for Bishops and ended the practice of elevating the prelate of Opus Dei to the role of a bishop.

The pope had also directed Opus Dei to revise its statutes to reflect this new structure, which was meant to be accomplished during the general congress. The revision would have then been submitted to the Holy See for approval after its adoption by the general congress.

Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, the prelate of Opus Dei, announced on April 21 that those statute revisions will be delayed and the general congress will only focus on the administrative tasks of renewing positions in the general council and the central advisory, which are appointed or renewed every eight years.

“The other questions that were to be dealt with at the congress … will be studied later,” Ocáriz said in a statement. “Now is a time of mourning, prayer, and unity with the whole Church.”

Ocáriz wrote that he decided not to delay the renewal of those positions because many of the participants had already arrived in Rome. Yet, it will be “reduced to the minimum necessary.”

“Let us take advantage of these days to live in communion with the whole Church during the mourning and funeral rites for the Holy Father,” Ocáriz said. 

In addition, Ocáriz issued a separate statement to commemorate the life and the papacy of Francis, saying: “In these moments of sorrow, together with the whole Church, we address our prayers to the Lord for the soul of our beloved Pope Francis.”

“The pope had great faith in the mercy of God and one of the main orientations of his pontificate has been precisely to announce it to the men and women of today,” he added. “By his example, he urged us to accept and experience God’s mercy, who never tires of forgiving us; and, on the other hand, to be merciful to others, as he tirelessly was himself, with so many gestures of tenderness that are a central part of his witnessing magisterium.”

Opus Dei had also planned to study ways to further their apostolic work in light of the conclusions of regional assemblies, but this will also be postponed.

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 24, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Prisoners always held a special place in Pope Francis’ heart, and he demonstrated his love for them throughout his pontificate.

He visited them in the various countries he traveled to and even, for the Jubilee of Hope, decided to open a Holy Door himself at the Rebibbia prison for the first time in history.

During his first Holy Week after being elected pontiff in 2013, he went to the prison to wash the prisoners’ feet, a gesture he repeated every year until his final Holy Thursday, four days before his death.

On April 17, the ailing pontiff visited the prisoners at Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) prison near the Vatican, a testament to his tireless defense of human dignity and his predilection for castoffs.

Father Raffaele Grimaldi, who oversees the work of Italian prison chaplains, emphasized in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that the initiative by the Holy Father is a sign that “his attention to the least and the poor was evident until his very last day.”

Pope Francis passes this task to us

“When he went to Regina Coeli, a few days before returning to the Father’s House, he wanted to leave us with a great message of ministering to the incarcerated,” he noted.

As Grimaldi sees it, “Pope Francis left this earthly world, passing on to us a task: to continue his work alongside the imprisoned.” 

Despite his poor health, the Holy Father met with 70 prisoners at the onset of the Easter Triduum. During the encounter, the pontiff explained the reason for his visit, linked to Holy Thursday and the traditional act of washing feet: “I like to do every year what Jesus did on Holy Thursday, the washing of feet, in prison.”

“This year I can’t do it, but I can and do want to be close to you. I pray for you and your families,” the pontiff told the prisoners in a weak voice.

After a moment of prayer, Pope Francis personally greeted each of the inmates and blessed them individually.

Grimaldi noted that each prisoner has a story to share: “Stories of suffering, of loneliness, of abandonment, but also a story of sin.”

“Pope Francis, when he washed feet on Holy Thursday in various Italian prisons over the years, wanted to make it understood that, [kneeling] in front of their feet, he had no prejudice, not even toward those who had committed serious crimes. Thus, the detainee feels accepted, without being judged; he feels uplifted by the pope’s words and gestures,” he added.

‘Why them and not me?’

Upon leaving prison last Holy Thursday, Pope Francis recalled the question that arose within him every time he visited a penitentiary: “Why them and not me?”

Grimaldi recalled that, during his encounters with inmates, “he frequently repeated this expression in order to say that within our penitentiary institutions there are also innocent people.”

“Because you can easily end up in prison,” the priest noted, “because you were convicted by human beings, which can also be an erroneous conviction by human beings who can make mistakes.”

“He planted a seed, and his message must be carried forward,” Grimaldi said.

CNA Staff, Apr 24, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Of the many devotions Pope Francis promoted during his pontificate, perhaps none is better known than his devotion to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots (also referred to as Our Lady, Untier of Knots), whose feast day is observed Sept. 28.

The devotion’s origins can be traced back to Augsburg, Germany, in 1612. Husband and wife Wolfgang Langenmantel and Sophia Rentz were on the verge of divorce, and Langenmantel sought help from Jesuit Father Jakob Rem. The priest took the ribbon from the couple’s wedding ritual, and together they prayed to Our Lady to untie the knots of their marital difficulties, asking for the Blessed Mother to smooth out the ribbon that had bound them together. 

The divorce did not happen, and together the couple lived out their married life. Years later, to commemorate the turn of events, their grandson, Father Hieronymus Langenmantel of St. Peter’s Monastery in Augsburg, commissioned Johann Melchior Georg Schmidttner to paint “Untier of Knots” in about the year 1700. It is still housed in St. Peter’s Church in Augsburg today.

While it has been reported that Pope Francis encountered the painting while studying in Germany, the pope pointed out in a 2017 interview with German news outlet Zeit that he has never been to Augsburg. What happened, he explained in the interview, was that a nun whom he had met while in Germany sent him a card at Christmas with the image on it.

The picture made an impression on the future pope, who noted that Langenmantel based his actions on a quote from St. Irenaeus: “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith” (“Against Heresies,” 3, 22, 4, as quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 494).

The pope said he liked the image so much that he started sending postcards of it, too.

Replicas of the image were painted in the pope’s home country, Argentina, and devotion there spread. Once Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope in 2013, devotion to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots spread throughout the world.

Francis has talked about the devotion throughout his pontificate, even praying specifically to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots in 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic.

Here is a prayer to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots from Pray More Novenas:

Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine love and immense mercy that exist in your heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exists in my life. You know very well how desperate I am, my pain, and how I am bound by these knots. Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the undoing of the knots in the lives of his children, I entrust into your hands the ribbon of my life. No one, not even the evil one himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands there is no knot that cannot be undone. Powerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with Your Son and My Liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot.

[Mention your request here]

I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once for all. You are my hope.

O my Lady, you are the only consolation God gives me, the fortification of my feeble strength, the enrichment of my destitution, and, with Christ, the freedom from my chains.

Hear my plea.

Keep me, guide me, protect me, O safe refuge!

Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.

Amen.

This article was first published on Sept. 28, 2023, and has been updated.

CNA Staff, Apr 24, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis, who died April 21 at age 88, traveled abroad on apostolic journeys nearly 50 times during his 12-year papacy. The octagenarian pope continued to travel even after being hampered for a time by the COVID-19 pandemic and battling failing health in the latter years of his life. 

Francis’ 47 apostolic journeys brought him to 68 countries, Vatican News reported Monday — and those journeys included a number of papal firsts. His visits galvanized the often small Christian communities in the countries he visited and bore fruit in the form of ecumenical meetings and dialogue with non-Catholic leaders. 

In March 2021, the then-84-year-old landed in Baghdad, Iraq, the first pope to visit the country. He also later became the first pope — and indeed the first Western leader — to visit South Sudan. 

Check out the interactive map below to see a selection of some of Pope Francis’ most notable apostolic journeys.

CNA Newsroom, Apr 24, 2025 / 02:04 am (CNA).

The College of Cardinals saw a significant increase in attendance at Wednesday’s general congregation, with 103 cardinals now present in Rome — nearly double the approximately 60 who participated in Tuesday’s initial gathering.

The cardinals began their second meeting with prayers for Pope Francis before making several key decisions regarding the sede vacante period, including finalizing the schedule for the Novendiales — the nine-day mourning period that begins with Saturday’s requiem Mass.

According to the Office for Papal Liturgical Celebrations, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at the funeral Mass for Pope Francis on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. Rome time.

The congregation also determined which cardinals will celebrate each of the subsequent Novendiales Masses through May 4. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, will preside at Sunday’s Mass, which begins at 10:30 a.m., while the remaining Masses will be celebrated at 5 p.m. each day.

While all 252 cardinals may participate in the general congregations regardless of age, only the 135 cardinals under 80 years old will be eligible to vote in the upcoming conclave. This number exceeds the traditional limit of 120 voting cardinals — a restriction that Pope Francis chose to waive during his pontificate.

The third general congregation is scheduled for Thursday at 9 a.m. Rome time as more cardinals continue to arrive in the Eternal City.

Meanwhile, the faithful continue to file through St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their final respects to Pope Francis. Vatican officials report that approximately 20,000 people had entered the basilica by 7:30 p.m. Wednesday evening, though this figure appears conservative given wait times of up to five hours and the steady movement of the queue.

The Holy See Press Office also announced that 4,000 journalists have already received Vatican accreditation to cover Pope Francis’ funeral and the subsequent conclave.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 16:51 pm (CNA).

In the endless lines of pilgrims wishing to pay their final respects to Pope Francis, whose coffin now lies open in St. Peter’s Basilica, feelings of grief and sadness are the order of the day.

“God took him too soon,” said Carmina, who had come to Rome from southern Italy for the Holy Week liturgical celebrations and after hearing the news of his death, decided to extend her stay.

“I didn’t want to leave without seeing him one last time. I was here on Sunday and saw him pass by from afar. I can’t believe he’s gone,” she told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

In St. Peter’s Square, the thousands of chairs that had been set up for Easter Sunday Mass, one of the most important celebrations for Christians, remain in place. They will now be used to accommodate the tens of thousands of people expected to attend the pope’s funeral, which will be celebrated by  Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

“He made the circuit around the square here in the popemobile. It seems as if he wanted to say goodbye,” she reflected.

Next to Carmina, a group of nuns were quietly praying, rosaries in their hands, while leaning against one of the barriers used by the police to create a sort of corridor to manage the flow into St. Peter’s Basilica.

“We’re too distressed to speak or do an interview,” one of them said with tears in her eyes.

Later, a Colombian priest studying in Rome commented that although people knew the pope “was very ill,” it was still a “surprise.”

He watched on the large screens installed in St. Peter’s Square as the coffin with Pope Francis’ body was brought in and confessed that he cried when “the church bells tolled for his death.” 

“He was a great pope,” said Carlo, a young university student who noted that although he considers himself agnostic, he wanted to come by and pray for the late pontiff. This young man, like everyone else in line, waited in line for five hours.

In the flow of people entering the basilica, strangers paused to chat and even make friends. 

Amid the crowd were two priests who work at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. They had the privilege of being part of the cortege that accompanied Pope Francis’ remains from St. Martha’s House.

Father Nicolaus, who is German, said the most important thing for him was to pray for the Church in these times when it’s been sort of orphaned.

“We’ve prayed for the Holy Father and we will now pray for the Catholic Church and for the future, giving thanks for all he has done and praying for the next pope who will come,” he said.

“We pray for the unity of the Church, which is very important at this time,” noted Father Giovanni, an Italian.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 14:37 pm (CNA).

Thousands of Catholics said their last goodbyes and paid their respects to Pope Francis on Wednesday as the late pope lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Long lines of mourners, many waiting more than four hours under the hot Roman sun, wound around St. Peter’s Square on the first day of viewing on April 23. Vatican officials indicated that they might need to extend the basilica’s hours past midnight to accommodate the large turnout. 

Many in attendance had initially come to Rome to celebrate Easter or witness the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, only to find themselves part of an unexpected historic farewell.

“The crowds are just packed… but overall it was beautiful,” said Arianne Gallagher-Welcher, a pilgrim from Washington, D.C. “You could feel how special it was for everyone … a really nice chance to say goodbye to Pope Francis.”

Gallagher-Welcher reflected on the significance of the Jubilee Year of Hope. “We were here during the Jubilee in 2000,” she said. “To thank and celebrate the life of Pope Francis during the Jubilee Year of Hope is just an incredible gift.”

As people slowly made their way to the basilica, some prayed the rosary while others sang hymns. Once inside, people were able to spend a moment in prayer before the late pope’s open casket in front of the main altar and the tomb of St. Peter. 

Clad in red vestments, a bishop’s miter on his head, and a rosary clasped in his hands, Francis was watched over in silence by four Swiss Guards standing vigil.

“As we got closer to the body of our Holy Father, it was very emotional to see him,” reflected Father Fabian Marquez of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas. “But I’m so grateful for all the great things he did for the community, bringing people together.” 

“And my personal prayer was that now he intercedes for the next Peter to come so that the next Peter can lead us where the Lord desires us to go,” Marquez said.

Marquez had traveled to Rome with fellow priests for the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis. Their journey took on new meaning with the pope’s death.

“Everything changed since the news that our Holy Father had passed,” Marquez said. “We decided to continue to come … just to be here with him.”

“We were able to pray the rosary with the people and it was very emotional just to be here outside of the basilica today … when they transferred the body from Santa Marta to the basilica,” he said.

Monsignor Humberto Gonzalez of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America recalled a personal memory of Pope Francis in 2020, when he concelebrated a Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe together with the pope after the loss of his mother. 

“Before the Mass, he called me to the sacristy. He gave me a hug, he gave me comfort, and he said: ‘I will offer the Mass for Carlina, for your mother.’ I carry that in my heart.”

Gonzalez paid his final respects with other Vatican officials inside the chapel in the pope’s Vatican residence before Francis’ body was transferred in a solemn procession into St. Peter’s Basilica. 

The public viewing in the basilica will continue for three days, concluding Friday at 7 p.m. when the casket will be sealed ahead of the funeral.

The monsignor said that for him it was an opportunity to say: “Thank you, Holy Father. Thank you for all the good, thank you for the gift that was your person. Thank you for giving yourself completely to humanity and for giving us so many teachings.”

The significance of the moment extended even to non-Catholics. Jai Agarwal, a 21-year-old American student at John Cabot University in Rome, joined the line to pay his respects. 

“He would always advocate for peace,” Agarwal said. “He’s one of the few people that just had genuine empathy.”

Raissa Fortes, a pilgrim from Brazil, had originally traveled to Italy for the canonization of Acutis but changed her plans upon hearing of the pope’s death. 

“It’s a mix of feelings,” she said. “I’m sad, but at the same time, I’m happy to be here in this special moment.”

She added: “When I received the sad news about Pope Francis, my husband and I decided to come earlier to say a last goodbye and be part of this moment with Pope Francis.”

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 23, 2025 / 12:55 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis, baptized as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, celebrated his patron saint’s feast day every April 23. The patron saint’s day of the pope is a holiday at the Vatican and Pope Francis usually celebrated it with acts of charity toward people in need.

The patron saint of the late pontiff, St. George, is credited with protecting the papacy and is also known as an intercessor in the fight against evil.

Pope Francis was known to take every opportunity to celebrate special occasions with the poorest, as was also the case on his birthday, when he often invited hundreds of them to dine with him at the Vatican.

In 2018, the Holy Father surprised the world with his unusual gesture of distributing ice cream to the poor of Rome to celebrate St. George’s feast day.

On that occasion, with the help of the apostolic almoner, nearly 3,000 servings of ice cream were distributed in the city’s soup kitchens. This initiative set the tone for subsequent celebrations of St. George’s feast day.

In 2019, Pope Francis gave a 44-pound chocolate Easter egg to the poor who came to the Caritas soup kitchen in central Rome.

In 2021, Pope Francis visited the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican to greet the more than 600 poor people waiting their turn to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of the Vatican’s solidarity vaccination campaign.

It was common for Pope Francis to make these kinds of gestures to the poor of the city of which he was bishop. In fact, a few years ago he ordered the construction of showers in St. Peter’s Square as well as a health care center and shelters.

The Holy Father also invited those in need to visit the Vatican Museums, gave them a gala dinner near Piazza Bernini, and even established a special day for them, the World Day of the Poor.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis was brought in solemn procession to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning, where the late pontiff will lie in state for three days for mourners to pay their final respects and say goodbye.

The Rite of Translation began in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, where Francis lived for the 12 years of his pontificate, and ended with the Holy Father’s body before the Altar of Confession in the soaring basilica at the center of Christendom.

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

Having cared for the aging Pope Francis as his personal nurse since 2022, Italian nurse Massimiliano Strappetti was among the few people who saw the Holy Father moments before his death on Easter Monday.

Before being appointed Pope Francis’ personal nurse in August 2022, Strappetti was the nursing coordinator for the Vatican’s health department. He started working in the Vatican in 2002 after having worked eight years in the intensive care unit of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.

Strappetti’s appointment came very soon after he accompanied the Holy Father on a difficult apostolic journey to Canada from July 24–30, 2022. Throughout 2022, the Holy Father struggled with knee problems.

From August 2022 onward, Strappetti would be seen by the pope’s side at almost every one of the pontiff’s public appearances, including his weekly Wednesday general audiences and Sunday Angelus addresses in Rome and the Vatican as well as on his several apostolic journeys abroad.  

The pope’s last words and final greetings were reportedly addressed to Strappetti, the man he trusted to care for him throughout the multiple illnesses and health emergencies he endured in the last years of his life. 

“Thank you for bringing me back to the Square,” the pope is reported to have told the nurse. Stappetti, a husband and father known for his generosity toward others, brought the Holy Father in a wheelchair to the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to deliver his final Easter Sunday urbi et orbi address on April 20.

After the blessing, the pope turned to Strappetti for his opinion, asking: “Do you think I can manage it?” before going down to the square to greet the 50,000 people from his popemobile, Vatican News reported. 

The next day, the pope’s health began to deteriorate at around 5:30 a.m. on Easter Monday morning. An hour later, the Holy Father made a “gesture of farewell with his hand” to Strappetti before falling into a coma, after suffering a stroke, in his bed in his Casa Santa Marta apartment, Vatican News reported. 

Strappetti closely accompanied the 88-year-old pope during his convalescence in the Vatican by providing round-the-clock care for the pope in his home following his March 23 release from the hospital after 38 days in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Dr. Sergio Alfieri, head of the Gemelli Hospital’s medical team that cared for the pope, said they followed the pope’s clear order, through Strappetti, to “try everything, let’s not give up” during two critical moments when they needed to decide whether to continue or stop treatment.  

Prior to working more closely with the Holy Father as his personal health care assistant, Strappetti was among the medical staff who, in the summer of 2021, advised the pope to undergo testing regarding issues with his colon. On July 4 of that year, the Holy Father underwent a three-hour operation that removed part of his colon. 

Later in 2021, following the colon operation and 11-day hospitalization in Gemelli, Pope Francis praised Strappetti as “a man with a lot of experience” who “saved my life,” in an interview with Spanish radio station COPE.

“Now I can eat everything, which was not possible before with the diverticula. I can eat everything. I still have the postoperative medications, because the brain has to register that it has 33 centimeters [12 inches] less intestine,” the pope quipped in the interview.

Rome Newsroom, Apr 23, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis ordered that upon his death he would be buried in the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of St. Mary Major). This basilica was very dear to him. Francis, however, will not be the only pope to be buried outside of the Vatican City State.

In the history of the Catholic Church, there have been 266 popes, and only about 30 of them have been buried outside of Rome. 

About 90 popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica (21 in the Vatican grottoes), 22 in St. John the Lateran, seven in Santa Maria Maggiore, five in Santa Maria sopra Minerva (St. Mary of Minerva), five at the Basilica San Lorenzo fuori le mura (St. Lawrence Outside the Walls), three at St. Paul Outside the Walls, and one in the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles. 

Various factors are at play when it comes to the decision of a burial place. The chosen location may be a basilica the deceased pope is particularly fond of or one that is a symbolically important place. 

Father Roberto Regoli, director of the Department of Church History at the Pontifical Gregorian University, stressed to CNA that “the tradition of burying popes in St. Peter’s does not date back to the beginning of Christianity. We know nothing about the burials of the first two centuries.”

Regoli pointed out that “the first popes up to the fifth century are buried in the catacombs or some surface monuments. Leo I the Great is the first pope buried in St. Peter’s. From that period on, we have burials scattered throughout the churches of Rome, and then from the end of the fifth century until the 10th century, burials mainly at St. Peter’s.”

Who are the popes not buried at the Vatican? 

Several popes have chosen Roman basilicas for their burial spot. The last was Leo XIII in 1903, who wanted his tomb in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Pope Francis has also instead arranged for his tomb to be in another basilica — the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Pope Francis chose Santa Maria Maggiore because he had a special connection with the basilica. He prayed before the icon of the “Salus Populi Romani” before and after each apostolic journey. He went there on the first day of his pontificate. The pope — a Jesuit — was tied to this basilica because it was there that St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, celebrated his first Mass.

Pope Francis will not be the first pope to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore, however. The basilica contains the tombs of Honorius III, Nicholas IV, St. Pius V, Sixtus V, Paul V, Clement VIII, and Clement IX. 

The tradition of burying popes in St. Peter’s Basilica dates to the fourth century. The Vatican Grottoes and St. Peter’s Basilica house the remains of 90 pontiffs.

St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the pope of Rome. It is no surprise that many popes have wanted to be buried there. As noted, the last to be laid to rest there was Leo XIII in 1903, but he is not the only one. The basilica houses the remains of 22 pontiffs.

The remains of two popes are found in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls — Felix III and John XIII — while John XVIII died in 1009 at the basilica’s monastery.

The church of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls is the basilica built over the remains of the deacon Lawrence. Blessed Pius IX was very attached to this basilica and was buried there. Four other popes are also buried in the basilica, almost all dating back to the fifth century.

Five popes, including two Medici pontiffs, Leo X and Clement VII, are buried in the Basilica Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, one of most artistically appointed in Rome and the last surviving Gothic church in the city. The church stands in front of the Ecclesiastical Academy, the school that trains the future “ambassadors of the pope,” the apostolic nuncios.

Pope Clement XIV is also buried in the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome.

Among the popes who are not buried in Rome, we can name Gregory XII (1406-1415) — the last pope before Benedict XVI to abdicate and who is buried in the Cathedral of Recanati, in the Marche; Benedict XII and John XXII in Avignon; St. Celestine V (who died in 1294 after abdicating) in the Basilica of Collemaggio in L’Aquila and whose tomb was visited by Pope Benedict XVI before his own resignation in 2013; Blessed Gregory X in Arezzo; St. Gregory VII in Salerno; and St. Adeodatus I in Cinto Euganeo, in the Veneto.

Where Pope Francis will be laid to rest 

Pope Francis’ decision to rest in Santa Maria Maggiore will change the funeral rite. 

At the end of his funeral, his body will not be taken to the Vatican Grottoes. Instead, it will be brought to Santa Maria Maggiore to be buried, near his beloved icon of the “Salus Populi Romani.”

CNA Staff, Apr 23, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis died on April 21 at the age of 88. As Catholics around the world mourn his passing, a highly regulated process has now begun that will see the pope’s earthly body laid to rest and a conclave convened to elect his successor. 

As of this moment, the chair of St. Peter is vacant — and you may have seen the phrases “sede vacante” and “interregnum” being used to describe the present period. Here’s a breakdown of what those phrases mean. 

What does the phrase ‘sede vacante’ mean? 

“Sede vacante” is Latin for “the see being vacant,” indicating the period when a pope has died or resigned and a successor has not yet been chosen.

Sede vacante begins at the moment a pope dies or resigns and concludes when his successor accepts his election as pope. The College of Cardinals is entrusted with governing the Church during the sede vacante, but only for ordinary business and matters that cannot be postponed.

The phrase doesn’t only apply to the office of the papacy — if a bishop who is the ordinary of a diocese dies or is removed from his post by the pope, the episcopal see is “sede vacante” until a successor is appointed.

It’s worth noting that the phrase “sede vacante” has also gained usage among some Catholics who erroneously believe that the chair of St. Peter has been empty, with no legitimate pope, for decades. Adherents to this view are known as “sedevacantists” and are, under canon law, in schism because they reject the pope’s authority.

What is the ‘interregnum’?

“Interregnum” is a Latin word meaning “between the reigns” and can refer to the period between the reigns of any two rulers. In the case of the papacy, it refers to the period between the day of the death or resignation of one pope (which is counted as the first day of interregnum) and the election of his successor.

In papal documents, most notably Universi Dominici Gregis, issued by Pope John Paul II in 1996, the interregnum is referred to as the “vacancy of the Apostolic See.”

Three distinct phases take place during a papal interregnum: 

1. The Nine Days of Mourning (Novendiales)

The pope’s body is currently lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, permitting the faithful to pay their respects. Between the fourth and sixth day after the pope’s death, a solemn funeral for the pope is celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica by the dean of the College of Cardinals, with the other cardinals. (Obviously, this is not done in the case of a papal resignation.)

The College of Cardinals declares an official mourning period of nine days, called the “Novendiales,” typically beginning on the day of the pope’s funeral. On each of the nine days a different cardinal or Church official celebrates a public funeral rite for the Holy Father, following the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (2024). 

Pope Francis had said that when he dies, he will be buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, and not — as has been the custom of popes for over a century — at the Vatican.

2. The preparation for the conclave

Preparations for the conclave to elect the new pope are begun after the papal funeral. Normally, the day on which the conclave begins is to be the 15th day after the death of a pope, the 16th day of the interregnum.

The College of Cardinals was given the faculty under Universi Dominici Gregis to defer its beginning “for serious reasons” up to the 20th day after death (21st day of the vacancy). However, under changes made by Pope Benedict XVI, the College of Cardinals is granted the faculty to start the conclave early if “it is clear that all the cardinal electors are present; they can also defer, for serious reasons, the beginning of the election for a few days more.”

3. The conclave

The conclave itself takes place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel under strict oath of secrecy; all of the cardinals are under penalty of automatic excommunication if they break the oath.

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 06:06 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’ coffin was carried Wednesday morning in solemn procession to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pontiff will lie in state for three days for mourners to pay their final respects and say goodbye.

The rite began in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, where Francis lived for the 12 years of his pontificate and where he was placed in a simple, zinc-lined coffin on April 21, hours after he died at the age of 88.

Members of the lay confraternity of chair-bearers, called “sediari pontifici,” carried Pope Francis’ coffin — led in procession by priests, bishops, and cardinals — through Vatican City and to St. Peter’s Square, where thousands of mourners waited in total silence for a glimpse of their former pope. 

To the sounds of bell tolls and Latin chants, Pope Francis, for the last time, passed over the same road he took hundreds of times before, when he would greet the crowds gathered to see him during turns around St. Peter’s Square in his popemobile. 

Flanked by eight Swiss Guards, the coffin was carried into St. Peter’s Square to loud applause, breaking through the solemn silence. The pope was carried across the left side of the square, up the incline, and through the main door of St. Peter’s Basilica. 

The choir chanted Psalms, the Kyrie, and the Litany of Saints as Francis’ body was carried down the center aisle of the Vatican basilica and his coffin placed on a low, wooden platform in front of the Altar of the Confession.

Four Swiss Guards stood watch as clergy and laypeople prayed together for Pope Francis following the rite of the “translation of the coffin of the Roman Pontiff Francis,” according to the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, the Church’s liturgical book for the funeral rites of popes. 

The camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, presided over the rite, which included incensing and sprinkling the papal coffin with holy water, the sung proclamation of a passage from the Gospel of John 17: 24-26, intercessory prayers, and a prayer that God will “hear us as we pray in union with all the saints and welcome into the assembly of your elect the soul of your servant, our Pope Francis, who placed his trust in the Church’s prayer.” 

The prayer ended with the congregation singing the Our Father in Latin and the Salve Regina. The cardinals and bishops in attendance silently approached the coffin in two lines to pay their final respects, and around 45 minutes later, just before 11 a.m. local time, the first mourners were allowed to enter the Vatican basilica to see the pope. 

Pope Francis will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica for the public to see, pray, and say goodbye, until the evening of April 25, when Farrell will close the coffin in preparation for the funeral Mass on the morning of April 26, which will be in St. Peter’s Square. 

April 26 will also mark the first day of a formal period of nine days of prayer and mourning in the Catholic Church, called the “Novendiales.” 

After his funeral Mass, the late pontiff will be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, as he requested in his last testament. 

CNA Staff, Apr 22, 2025 / 18:17 pm (CNA).

At the first general congregation of cardinals in Rome on Tuesday, the estimated 60 cardinals in attendance chose the date of Pope Francis’ funeral and suspended beatification celebrations.

The closed-door meeting to discuss the upcoming conclave and other issues pertaining to the interregnum took place at 9 a.m. local time the day after the death of the pontiff as cardinals hurried from around the world to the Eternal City. 

As part of the interregnum period, the cardinals will meet frequently to make various decisions about the upcoming papal funeral and conclave. 

The cardinals set the papal funeral for Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. Rome time in St. Peter’s Square. Pope Francis will be buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, per his request, following the funeral. Pope Francis’ body will be transferred on Wednesday morning to St. Peter’s Basilica for the faithful to pay their respects. 

Pope Francis’ funeral is the first Mass of the “Novendiales” — a nine-day cycle of liturgical and spiritual preparation for the conclave. Cardinals will arrive from around the world to participate in the general congregations before the conclave, known as "preparatory sessions.”

Tuesday’s hour-and-a-half assembly began with a moment of silent prayer for the repose of the soul of the late Holy Father. 

At the assembly, the cardinals suspended upcoming beatification celebrations until the newly elected pope takes office. 

During the meeting, the cardinals took an oath to follow the norms of the interregnum, which are detailed in Pope John Paul II’s 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis. These norms include keeping “rigorous secrecy” around the election of the next pope.

The Irish-American Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who serves as the camerlengo of the apostolic chamber, read Pope Francis’ will.

During the general congregations, the cardinals will convene on important decisions such as the date of the conclave and approval of necessary expenses. 

The conclave can begin as early as 15 days after the Holy Father’s death so that all voting cardinals may attend, according to Universi Dominici Gregis. Once a maximum of 20 days have passed, the cardinals are obliged to begin the conclave. However, the rules also permit an earlier start should the cardinals agree and all of the electors have arrived.

All cardinals are expected to participate in the conclave unless a serious impediment prevents them, while cardinals older than 80 are ineligible to vote in the conclave. Of the 252 Catholic cardinals, 135 have voting privileges in the conclave.

Vatican City, Apr 22, 2025 / 17:08 pm (CNA).

With the death of Pope Francis on Monday, the Catholic Church has entered a mourning period, which will include nine days of Masses offered for the repose of his soul known as the “Novendiales.”  

Rooted in ancient Christian and Roman customs, the Novendiales is a period of nine consecutive days dedicated to mourning the death of a pope. The practice dates back centuries, mirroring the ancient Roman tradition of a nine-day funeral rite.

According to Church law, while the mourning period begins immediately upon the pope’s death, marking the official start of the “sede vacante,” or papal interregnum, the Novendiales will begin on the day of the pope’s funeral, scheduled for April 26, and will be followed by consecutive days of Masses until May 4.

In the days leading up to the funeral, the late pope’s body is placed in state at St. Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful can pay their final respects. Pope Francis will lie in state from Wednesday morning until the funeral Saturday morning. 

The funeral: A global farewell 

Between the fourth and sixth day after the pope’s death, the papal funeral takes place in St. Peter’s Basilica or St. Peter’s Square, presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals, who is currently Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Pope Francis’ funeral will take place on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. Rome time.

The funeral follows the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, the Vatican’s official liturgical text for papal funerals, which was updated at Pope Francis’ request in 2024. The late pope’s face, his body having been placed in a simple wooden coffin lined with zinc, is covered with a silk veil. 

The ceremony is attended by heads of state, religious leaders, and thousands of faithful from around the world. At the end of the Mass, the traditional antiphon “In Paradisum” is sung, asking for the angels to guide the pope’s soul to heaven. 

“May angels lead you into paradise; upon your arrival, may the martyrs receive you and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem. May the ranks of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, the poor man, may you have eternal rest.” 

Pope Francis, in accordance with his personal wishes expressed in his final testament, will not be buried in the Vatican grottoes but instead at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a basilica that he visited more than 100 times during his papacy before and after his international trips in devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

The Novendiales  

The nine-day period of Novendiales Masses begins on the day of the pope’s funeral, in accordance with the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis.

Each day, a cardinal chosen by the late pope presides over a requiem Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. Red is the liturgical color for the Novendiales Masses, which follow the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (2024).

While the Masses are open to the public, each day traditionally focuses on a particular group associated with the pope. The day after the funeral, Vatican City residents and employees are typically invited to attend. On the third day, clergy from the Diocese of Rome concelebrate the Mass, and on the seventh day, members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are invited. 

The Holy See Press Office has confirmed that the Mass scheduled to take place in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of Teenagers on Sunday morning presided over by Cardinal Pietro Parolin will be the second Novendiales Mass. The following Masses will take place in the afternoon each day until May 4. 

The general congregations 

The mourning period is not only a time of prayer but also of preparation. Throughout the Novendiales, the College of Cardinals gathers daily for general congregations to discuss the Church’s next steps. Cardinals under the age of 80, who are eligible to vote in the upcoming conclave, are required to travel to Rome to take part in the election of the next pope. 

The first general congregation can take place as soon as two days after the pope’s death. In these initial meetings, the cardinals focus on funeral arrangements and setting a date for the conclave.  

By the eighth general congregation, discussions shift to the broader state of the Church and the major issues facing the Roman Curia. The Vatican has emphasized that no names of papabile — cardinals considered leading candidates to be elected pope — are brought up during these pre-conclave congregations.  

The mourning period concludes with the end of the Novendiales, after which the Church formally begins the process of selecting the next successor of Peter. The conclave typically begins around the 15th day after the pope’s death. 

As the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica toll in mourning, Catholics around the world pause to reflect on the life and legacy of Pope Francis. For nearly two weeks, the Church waits before the conclave begins and then waits a little longer for the white smoke to rise from the Sistine Chapel once again, signaling the election of a new pope. 

Vatican City, Apr 22, 2025 / 16:33 pm (CNA).

“He told us he was praying for us, blessed us, and thanked us for our prayers on his behalf,” said Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of Holy Family Parish in Gaza, summing up Pope Francis’ last call on Saturday night, April 19, moments before going to St. Peter’s Basilica to pray before the Easter Vigil.

The deeply moved Argentine priest explained in detail to Vatican News the Holy Father’s final gesture of closeness toward them, two days before his death.

“Pope Francis is a pastor who loves and follows this small community of ours. He prays and works for peace,” said Romanelli, noting that since the pontiff’s death, the Christian communities in Gaza — Catholic and Orthodox — have united in prayer for Pope Francis.

The priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word did not hesitate to convert the parish complex in Gaza into a makeshift shelter during the fighting between Israel and Hamas. The parish currently houses 500 people. The majority are Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and Catholics, but it also serves as a shelter for more than 50 Muslim children with disabilities and their families.

Romanelli recalled how, over the past 19 months, the Holy Father has maintained constant contact with Gaza. “He was concerned about how we were doing, whether we had eaten, about the children,” the priest related.

In fact, he didn’t even stop calling to console them during the 38 days he was in Gemelli Hospital for bronchitis that led to double pneumonia.

“We hope that his appeals won’t be ignored: that the bombing will stop, that this war will end, that the hostages will be released, and that humanitarian aid will reach those who are suffering,” Romanelli said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 22, 2025 / 15:54 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis greeted the faithful around the world for the last time from St. Peter’s Basilica on the most important day for Christians: Easter, the heart and foundation of the Catholic faith that proclaims Christ’s triumph over sin and death.

On the morning of April 20, before tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis appeared from the central loggia of the basilica to deliver his Easter message.

His face marked by fatigue and his voice broken by his difficulty breathing, the Holy Father delivered with great effort what would be his last blessing: “Dear brothers and sisters: Happy Easter!” A day later, on the morning of April 21, Pope Francis died at the age of 88.

In his Easter message, read Sunday by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of pontifical ceremonies, the Holy Father expressed his profound longing for peace and hoped “that the principle of humanity as its cardinal axis may never fail.”

“On this day, I would like us to once again hope and trust in others — even those who are not close to us or who come from distant lands, with customs, lifestyles, ideas, and habits different from those we are most familiar with — for we are all children of God,” Pope Francis expressed.

At the end of his message, the pontiff gave the faithful one of those “surprises” that have characterized the final days of his pontificate since he was discharged from Gemelli Hospital in Rome on March 23.

Pope Francis made the circuit of the packed square for about 20 minutes, greeting the 35,000 faithful with affection and warmth from the popemobile, the crowd reciprocating with applause and cheers, a scene captured for posterity.

Since his discharge from the hospital, Pope Francis appeared in public on several occasions, always unexpectedly, without an official public agenda.

Although he was not expected to receive large groups or hold audiences during his convalescence, he reappeared for the first time on April 6 to participate in the Jubilee of the Sick.

He also held a private meeting with the British monarchs after the cancellation of their official visit to the Vatican, and on April 10, he surprised everyone with a visit, without papal attire, to St. Peter's Basilica to pray at the tomb of St. Pius X.

The Holy Father also visited St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome to pray before the icon of the Virgin Mary, “Salus Populi Romani” (“Protection of the Roman People”), to whom he always held a great devotion. On Palm Sunday, he could be seen without nasal cannulas greeting the cardinals and faithful at the end of Mass.

Just five days ago, he visited Rome’s Regina Coeli prison on the afternoon of Holy Thursday to meet with 70 inmates. He also reappeared at the Vatican basilica on Holy Saturday to be close to the faithful who were about to celebrate the Easter Vigil.

In addition, on April 16, he received at the Vatican 70 members of the medical teams of Gemelli Hospital to thank them for their care during his hospitalization.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

National Catholic Register, Apr 22, 2025 / 12:12 pm (CNA).

Many saw Pope Francis as a grandfatherly figure, especially when he shared bits of practical wisdom on how to get along with one another. Reflecting on the Holy Family’s simple life in Nazareth, on the 2013 feast of the Holy Family, Francis said:

“Let us remember the three key words for living in peace and joy in the family: ‘may I,’ ‘thank you,’ and ‘sorry.’ In our family, when we are not intrusive and ask ‘may I,’ in our family when we are not selfish and learn to say ‘thank you,’ and when in a family one realizes he has done something wrong and knows how to say ‘sorry,’ in that family there is peace and joy. Let us remember these three words.”

This advice became a refrain, as he advised the next year:

“It is normal that there be a quarrel between husband and wife … but please remember this: Never finish the day without making peace! Never, never, never! This is a secret, a secret to protect love and to make peace.”

Across many homilies, audiences, and off-the-cuff reflections throughout his papacy, Pope Francis offered such grandfatherly advice on marriage, family, youth, the elderly, and other aspects of Catholic life — using signature turns of phrase. Here are some highlights of other times he offered folksy advice to the faithful.

Marriage matters

The Holy Father was blunt when speaking to those gathered for a general audience in 2014 — criticizing those who had pets instead of children. 

“The other day, I spoke about the demographic winter that exists nowadays: People do not want to have children, or just one and no more. And many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one because they do not want any more, but they have two dogs, two cats. ... Yes, dogs and cats take the place of children. Yes, it is funny, I understand, but it is the reality. And this denial of fatherhood or motherhood diminishes us; it takes away our humanity. And in this way civilization becomes more aged and without humanity, because it loses the richness of fatherhood and motherhood. And our homeland suffers, as it does not have children, and, as someone said somewhat humorously, ‘And now that there are no children, who will pay the taxes for my pension? Who will take care of me?’ He laughed, but it is the truth. I ask of St. Joseph the grace to awaken consciences and to think about this: about having children.”

Young and old 

Over the years, Pope Francis attended many youth-focused events — and he encouraged them to excellence. 

“I wrote a speech for you, but prepared speeches are boring,” the pope told youth on his trip to Asunción, Paraguay, in 2015. So he spoke spontaneously. “We don’t want ‘namby-pambies,’ young people who are just there, lukewarm, unable to say either yes or no. We don’t want young people who tire quickly and who are always weary, with bored faces. We want young people who are strong. We want young people full of hope and strength. Why? Because they know Jesus, because they know God. Because they have a heart that is free.”

He was known for his colorful expressions when “telling it like it is.” 

In September 2017, at the Vatican, Francis reminded a group of youth and young adults: “Narcissism produces sadness because you constantly worry about making up your soul every day, to appear better than what you are, pondering whether you are more beautiful than the others. It is the sickness of the mirror. Young people, break the mirror! Do not look in the mirror because the mirror is deceiving. Look outward; look at others; escape from this world, from this culture around us — to which you referred — which is consumeristic and narcissistic. And if one day you would like to look in the mirror, I will give you some advice: Look in the mirror to laugh at yourself. Try it one day: Look and begin to laugh at what you see there; it will refresh your soul. This brings cheerfulness and saves us from the temptation of narcissism.”

Speaking to an audience in May 2022, Francis focused on the elderly and told them they had plenty to offer, much more than money, and reminded them to pick up the Good Book, too. Summarizing the Old Testament Book of Judith, he emphasized: “Judith is not a pensioner who lives her emptiness in melancholy. She is a passionate elderly woman who fills the time God gives her with gifts. Remember: One of these days, take the Bible and look at the Book of Judith: It is very short; it is easy to read. It is 10 pages long, no more. Read this story of a courageous woman who ends up this way, with tenderness, generosity, a worthy woman. And this is how I would like all our grandmothers to be. All like this: courageous, wise, and who bequeath to us not money but the legacy of wisdom, sown in their grandchildren.”

Don’t be ‘pickled peppers’

The pope didn’t hold back when reminding the faithful of the call to witness to Christian joy.

“Sometimes these melancholic Christians’ faces have more in common with pickled peppers than the joy of having a beautiful life,” Pope Francis said in one of his earliest papal homilies, on the reading from Acts 18, in the chapel of St. Martha’s residence in May 2013. “If we keep this joy to ourselves, it will make us sick in the end; our hearts will grow old and wrinkled and our faces will no longer transmit that great joy, only nostalgia and melancholy, which is not healthy.”

“I tell you the truth,” he told the faithful in St. Peter’s Square. “I am convinced that if each one of us would purposely avoid gossip, at the end, we would become a saint! It’s a beautiful path!”

“Do we want to become saints? Yes or no?” he queried, as the crowds replied: “Yes!”

“Yes? Do we want to live attached to gossip as a habit?” Pope Francis continued. “Yes or no? No? OK, so we are in agreement! No gossip!”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

Rome Newsroom, Apr 22, 2025 / 11:42 am (CNA).

Cardinal William Goh celebrated a memorial Mass for Pope Francis in Singapore on Tuesday, saying the late Holy Father had a “heart for everyone” and was dedicated to leading the Church toward a “new evangelization” through mercy and love.

After expressing the “real shock” the Church felt following the news of the pope’s death on Easter Monday, Goh said the Archdiocese of Singapore swiftly organized the Tuesday afternoon memorial Mass held in the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd.

Speaking to approximately 900 Catholic faithful, state representatives, and diplomatic corps present at the April 22 Mass, Goh said Pope Francis was entrusted with “the work of the new evangelization” and was a “significant example” for Christians throughout his 12-year pontificate.

“He wanted to proclaim Christ to the world but he wanted to do it in a way that the Gospel he proclaims will truly be ‘good news,’” Goh said, reflecting on the late pontiff’s first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”), written in 2013.

“There is no way for us to proclaim the Gospel unless we have encountered the risen Lord for ourselves, unless we have touched him, unless we have experienced his mercy and love,” he continued. 

Commenting on Pope Francis’ critics who said the late pontiff was “soft on doctrine,” the 67-year-old Asian cardinal elector said the late leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics had a visible ability to reach out to many people through the “method” of living the “way of the Gospel.”  

“When we celebrate or come to pray for Pope Francis in this Mass, we are reminded of Pope Francis’ methodology in reaching out to people,” he said. 

“He was a man with great compassion — especially for those who are poor [or] suffering, those who are marginalized, those who have issues in their marriage [or] even in their identity,” he added. 

While noting the importance of “reason” to explain the Christian faith and to share it with others, Goh said “doctrines and words” are not enough to convince people about Jesus Christ and his Church.

“In fact, most people do not encounter the risen Lord by way of reason because reason can lead you to a certain threshold,” he said. “You have to take the leap of faith.”

Highlighting the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the “foundation” for the Jesuit pope’s spirituality, Goh said this “special devotion” enabled Francis to be close to people and have a “heart for everyone,” regardless if they were Catholic or not.

“He was truly a pastor for the world — a pastor with a heart, with compassion, and with great empathy,” he said toward the end of his homily. “We all love Pope Francis because truly he reveals to us the mercy [and] compassion of God.”

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 22, 2025 / 11:12 am (CNA).

The start of a papal interregnum brings many terms that may not be familiar to many people, including many Catholics. Here are some of the key words and phrases that will be used throughout the interregnum, especially the conclave to elect the new pope.

Apostolic See or Holy See: The earthly heart of the Church is often referred to as the Apostolic See or Holy See. A see is a seat of authority, from the Latin “sede” for “chair.” Jesus said the Pharisees sat on the chair of Moses. Judges sit on a bench, representing the authority of the state. Professors hold chairs of academic authority. And in the Church bishops possess chairs of spiritual authority, which is why in part their dioceses are called sees. The Roman Diocese has been called the Apostolic See, or Holy See, from ancient times, as it is the seat of authority of the chief apostle Peter, who has Christ’s authority over holy things. The expression applies not only to the pope but also to those in Rome who assist him in governing the universal Church. 

camerlengo: The camerlengo, or chamberlain, of the holy Roman Church has the key role of organizing the process during the vacancy of the Apostolic See, the interregnum. It is the camerlengo, assisted by the master of papal liturgical celebrations and other officials who certify the death of the pope. During the period of vacancy the camerlengo, assisted by the vice camerlengo, gathers reports from the departments of the Curia so that the College of Cardinals can manage the ordinary affairs of the Holy See until a new pope is elected. This is necessary since virtually all department heads lose their offices when a pope dies, except for the camerlengo, the major penitentiary, and the almoner of his holiness.

cardinal: As the root of the name suggests — Latin for “cardo,” or “hinge” — cardinals are among the closest advisers of the pope and have the immense responsibility of electing the bishop of Rome, the pope, in a conclave. The ecclesiastical rank of cardinal was known from about A.D. 315 and the time of Pope Sylvester I. Today these titles, with their reference to ancient responsibilities as being among the clergy of Rome, are said to be “titular,” not actual. The actual offices held by cardinals today are instead within the Roman Curia or as archbishops of dioceses around the world. Cardinals are generally bishops, though the pope may grant an exception, as has been done on several occasions in recent decades. By custom, cardinals are called princes of the Church, with the title of eminence, and enjoy special privileges such as wearing scarlet, a reminder that they are expected also to be witnesses of the faith “usque ad sanguinis effusionem” (“even to the shedding of their blood”). 

cardinal electors: Cardinal electors are those who are eligible to vote in a papal election. All cardinals under the age of 80 on the day on which the Roman See becomes vacant are allowed to participate in the conclave. The exceptions are those who are legitimately prevented by illness or other circumstances, those who have been deposed by the pope, and those from whom the pope has accepted the renunciation of the cardinalate. For most of the history of papal elections there was no age limit on the cardinals to take part in a conclave. However, in 1970 the age requirement of 80 was imposed by Pope Paul VI. He decreed that cardinals turning 80 should cease to be members of the departments of the Roman Curia and of the other institutions and lose the right to elect the pope. If, however, a cardinal completes his 80th year after the Apostolic See becomes vacant, he remains an elector for the conclave. Electors who have been legitimately delayed or who leave for a reason recognized in law may enter, or reenter, the conclave even while it is in progress. Every pope since 1378 has been chosen from among the body of voting cardinals.

College of Cardinals: The collective name given to the body of cardinals, known formally as the Sacred College of Cardinals. This group consists of bishops, and by exception priests, whom a pope has chosen to be his close advisers and collaborators — and to whom he has entrusted the task of electing his successor — are called cardinals. The name derives from the Latin for “hinge” and came into use in the fourth century. The College of Cardinals, or all cardinals collectively, was constituted in its current form in A.D. 1150, although the cardinals have served as the exclusive electors of the pope since 1059. Members belong to one of three ranks, cardinal deacons, cardinal priests, and cardinal bishops.

consistory or congregation: A gathering of cardinals to advise the pope or assist him in his duties. During the vacancy of the Apostolic See there are three kinds of assemblies of the cardinals. General congregations are attended by all the cardinals who are not legitimately impeded, such as by sickness. Particular congregations are composed of the cardinal chamberlain (camerlengo) and three other cardinals. These particular congregations handle the ordinary business of the Roman Church during the interregnum, referring anything significant to the general congregation. Finally, once the cardinal electors gather to elect a pope, their assembly is called a conclave. 

conclave: When the cardinal electors gather to elect a pope their assembly is called a conclave. The name is derived from the Latin for ”cum clavis” (”with a key”), describing the symbolic but historical procedure by which the cardinal electors are locked into the place of election until their task of electing a new pope is finished. The conclave system was formalized in 1274 by Pope Gregory X in the bull Ubi Periculum. It sought to prevent another lengthy interregnum such as the three-year-long ordeal that had preceded his election in 1271. Its procedures are minutely governed today by the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis of Pope John Paul II, as amended by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, and allows for no innovations on the part of the cardinals. By tradition and law, it is held in the Sistine Chapel, and votes are taken once or twice in a morning session and once or twice in an afternoon session. When the session concludes without an election the ballots are burned, causing black smoke to emanate from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. However, if a pope is elected they are burned with a chemical agent, producing the characteristic white smoke signaling the election of a pope.

dean of the College of Cardinals: The most senior member of the College of Cardinals, elected from among the ranks of the cardinal bishops, and confirmed by the pope. The dean is assisted by the vice dean in convoking the cardinals when the pope dies, as well as presiding over their congregations and over the conclave. He is the one who asks the electee to accept election as pope. The dean always has the titular office of the bishop of Ostia, the diocese located at the mouth of the River Tiber, on whose banks Rome sits. The cardinal dean also holds the title he held at the time of his promotion to dean. If the dean is over the age of 80 and therefore ineligible to participate in the conclave, his duties are performed by the vice dean. If he, too, is over 80, the task of running the conclave falls to the most senior cardinal bishop under the age of 80. In the current conclave, both the dean (Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, age 91) and vice dean (Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, age 81) are ineligible, and so the conclave will be directed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the next eligible most senior cardinal bishop. 

dicastery: A dicastery is a department of the Roman Curia whose mission is to assist the pope in his governance of the Church. Among them are the Secretariat of State, the various one-time congregations, such as the Doctrine of the Faith; the tribunals, such as the Apostolic Signatura; the councils, such as for Promoting Christian Unity; and the offices, such as the Camerlengo (which administers the goods of the Holy See during a vacancy). Major dicasteries are traditionally headed by a cardinal, but Pope Francis has also named a woman religious as a prefect as well. Dicasteries are composed of a body of cardinals and bishops who meet periodically to conduct the more important business, assisted by other officials, consultors, and employees, both clergy and laity. 

Domus Sancta Marthae: Called in the Italian the Casa Santa Marta, or St. Martha’s House, the Vatican guesthouse used to welcome various visitors with business in the Vatican and especially to house the cardinals during the conclave. Prior to the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, the cardinal electors stayed in cramped quarters quickly prepared in the Apostolic Palace near the Sistine Chapel. With the increase in the number of electors in recent decades, this arrangement proved inadequate. Pope John Paul II ordered the construction of the Domus Sancta Marthae, named for the holy woman of Bethany, St. Martha, who busied herself with hospitality for the Lord. In 2005 and 2013, the Domus housed both the nonvoting cardinals before the election and the voting cardinals (those under 80 years of age) once the election began. It also served as the residence of Pope Francis from the time of his election in 2013.

electing a pope: The manner of choosing a pope is not of divine institution. Papal authority is supreme in the Church, so whatever procedure a pope establishes for the election of his successor is lawful, valid, and obligatory until another pope changes it. Christ personally chose Peter, and it is believed that Peter himself designated his successor as Linus. How other of the early popes were elected, by vote or designation, is not known with certainty. However, from the fourth century we see the evolution of procedures culminating in the 11th and 12th centuries in the current system of cardinal electors. The current conclave system of electing a pope was introduced in 1274 by Pope Gregory X. This system has itself been reformed by many popes, including John Paul II, and on some points by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. 

interregnum: The period between the reigns of popes, formally called the vacancy of the Apostolic See, or “sede vacante.” A vacancy may come about due to the death of a reigning pope or to his resignation from office. If a pope has died the cardinals gather in Rome to mourn him and to plan and carry out his funeral and burial. In both the case of death and resignation, they will meet in conclave to elect his successor. During a vacancy, except for certain offices necessary for day-to-day affairs, all department heads in the Roman Curia lose their authority, and the power of the cardinals is limited to those matters concerned with guarding the authority and patrimony of the Holy See for the next pope. 

major penitentiary: The major penitentiary is one of the curial officials who do not lose their offices with the vacancy of the Holy See. The others are the camerlengo or chamberlain of the holy Roman Church and the almoner of his holiness. The major penitentiary is responsible for indulgences, the provision of confessors for the patriarchal basilicas in Rome, and judging questions of conscience (called the internal forum) submitted for adjudication to the Holy See. These include dispensations and absolution from sanctions, such as excommunication, which are reserved in law to the Holy See. The authority of the major penitentiary, therefore, continues during the interregnum.

Novendiales: Following the death of the pope nine days of official mourning are held, called the Novendiales, meaning nine days. The nine days of official mourning, commencing with the day of the solemn funeral Mass, are called the Novendiales. This funeral Mass, and Day 1 of the Novendiales, must fall between the fourth and sixth day after death, that is, on the fifth, sixth, or seventh day of the interregnum, as determined by the College of Cardinals. The mourning period then continues until the nine days are completed. Typically, a Mass is celebrated by a cardinal and might involve officials and staff from different Vatican offices, such as the Vatican City State, the Roman Curia, members of Consecrated Life, and the Eastern Churches. 

papal primacy: Papal primacy refers to the supreme, immediate, and ordinary authority of the pope over everyone in the whole Church. Definitively and precisely stated only at the First Vatican Council in 1870, this primacy of jurisdiction has been exercised by St. Peter and the bishops of Rome from the beginning of the Church. This can be seen in the norms announced by the apostle at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, in the letter of Peter’s successor, Clement, to Corinth from about A.D. 85, and many other examples from the Fathers of the Church in which the bishop of Rome is acknowledged as the final court, and the point of unity, for all the local Churches in the universal Church. 

papal titles: The election of a pope is first and foremost the election of the successor to St. Peter as the bishop of Rome. From this office derives all the other offices and titles he will hold. For example, the Roman bishop is the archbishop and metropolitan of the Roman province, the primate or first bishop of Italy, the vicar of Jesus Christ, the supreme pontiff, and pastor of the universal Church. He is the “servant of the servants of God,” a title coined about A.D. 600 by Pope Gregory I the Great. As spiritual father to all Christians he is called “pope” (“papa”), “holy father,” and “your holiness” ― not because he is holy but because the things of Christ, which he administers, are holy. All of these offices belong to the man elected the bishop of Rome.

pope: The title “pope“ means “father.” In ancient Greek it was a child’s term of affection (papa) but was borrowed by Latin as a title of honor. Both Greek-speaking Eastern Christians and Latin-speaking Western Christians applied the term broadly to priests, bishops, and patriarchs in the early Church. Even today, the faithful of the Orthodox Churches may call their parish priest pope. Gradually, however, Latin usage became more restrictive. At the beginning of the third century, papa was a term of respect for churchmen in high positions; by the fifth century, it was applied particularly to the bishop of Rome; and since the eighth century, as far the West is concerned, the title has been exclusively a reference to the pope in Rome.

proto-deacon: The name used for the most senior cardinal deacon who makes the announcement to the waiting world that the election has taken place and proclaims the name of the new pope by exclaiming “Habemus papam!” (“We have a pope!”). The proto-deacon is the longest serving of the cardinals who hold the rank within the College of Cardinals of cardinal deacon (the other ranks being cardinal priests and cardinal bishops) based on the date of his appointment to the college and by the order of announcement on the “biglietto” or papal decree. The current proto-deacon is Cardinal Dominique Mamberti. 

Roman Curia: Curia is a Latin term for a ruling body and its place of assembly. In ancient Rome the senate met in the Curia, which can still be seen among the ruins of the Roman Forum. Within the Church the term is used for those who assist a bishop in the governance of his diocese. With respect to the bishop of Rome, it applies to the members of the various Roman dicasteries, such as the Doctrine of the Faith, Saints, Tribunals, Councils, Offices, Commissions, and Committees who assist the pope in his governing of the Church. The current authority, structure, responsibilities, and operation of the Curia were established by Pope Francis in 2022 with the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium.

Sistine Chapel: When the cardinal electors, those under 80 years of age, gather twice daily to deliberate and vote for the next pope, they will do so in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace. Built for Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484), after whom it is named, this chapel was made famous by Pope Julius II (1503-1513), who in 1508 commissioned Michelangelo to decorate its vault, a task he completed in 1512. Later, Michelangelo painted the “Last Judgment” on the altar wall for Pope Paul III (1534-1549). It is before this imposing painting that the cardinal electors will cast their votes for the next pope. The first conclave to be held in the Sistine Chapel was in 1492 and the election of Pope Alexander VI, and the last not to be held there was in 1846 and the election of Pope Pius IX when it was held in the Quirinal Palace in Rome. In the decree governing the conclave, Pope John Paul II’s 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominic Gregis, the cardinals are mandated to hold the election in the Sistine Chapel, “where everything is conducive to an awareness of the presence of God, in whose sight each person will one day be judged” (Universi Dominic Gregis, Introduction).

supreme pontiff: “Pontiff” is taken from the Latin “pontifex” or “bridge-builder.” This title was given in ancient Rome to priests, seen as the mediators between the gods and men. In Christian teaching, Christ is the one mediator reconciling God and man. He alone is necessary. However, he utilizes human beings in offices of secondary mediation in order to effect his plan of salvation through his mystical body the Church. Applied to the bishop of Rome, “pontiff,” therefore, points to the high priesthood of Jesus Christ, which the pope exercises as a bishop. As pope, he is said to be the supreme pontiff, because he is pastor not only of his own diocese but also of the universal Church. 

Vatican City State: Vatican City State is the world’s smallest sovereign state, with its own diplomatic corps, passport, laws, police, stamps, and head of state, the pope. A 1929 concordat with Italy established the state, restoring the political autonomy the papacy had enjoyed for centuries in the Papal States. These states in central Italy protected the Church from subjection to kings and princes but were lost when the forces of Italian unification — the “Risorgimento” — entered Rome in 1870. The Vatican Concordat settled the issue of the pope’s temporal authority, securing for him sovereignty over the Vatican and certain other properties in Italy. Even during World War II, when Hitler contemplated invading the Vatican and capturing the pope, it provided a diplomatically secure place from which the Church could act independently.

vicar of Christ: The title “vicar of Christ” is closely associated with Our Lord’s titles “son of David” and “king of Israel.” It was foretold to David that a descendant would reign on David’s throne forever. This king is Jesus Christ, who reigns in an eternal spiritual kingdom, as opposed to the earthly kingdom that many expected the messiah to take up. Every king has a prime minister, a vizier or vicar, to implement his will and speak in his name. Although the kingdom of God has no material treasures to guard and dispense, it has spiritual treasures: the faith, the sacraments, the unity of the Church. This spiritual treasure is what was committed to Peter under the symbol of the keys and is passed to those who succeed him in his office as the vicar of Christ.

Vatican City, Apr 22, 2025 / 10:12 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’ last public act was a blessing of the entire world on Easter Sunday, delivered from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica — the same place where he was introduced as pope 12 years ago. 

In the wake of his death, the Vatican released further details on Tuesday about the pope’s final hours. 

“Grazie,” or “Thank you,” was among the pope’s final words, according to Vatican state media. He addressed them to Massimiliano Strappetti, the Vatican nurse who had served as his personal health assistant since 2022.

“Thank you for bringing me back to the Square,” Francis told Strappetti, who had encouraged him to greet the crowd from the popemobile on Easter Sunday following the traditional “urbi et orbi” blessing.

It marked the first time Francis had used the popemobile since a 39-day hospitalization earlier this year for pneumonia. The more than 15 minutes he spent waving to the 50,000 people gathered in the square ended up being his last ride. 

His final public words were simple: “Brothers and sisters, happy Easter.” 

The 88-year-old pope spent the remainder of Easter afternoon resting and had a peaceful dinner, according to the Vatican. 

At 5:30 a.m. local time on Monday, April 21, the pope’s health took a sudden turn, prompting immediate medical attention. Just over an hour later, still in bed in his second-floor apartment at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis made a gesture of farewell with his hand to Strappetti before going into a coma.

He died at 7:35 a.m. in his Vatican apartment. According to his death certificate, the cause of death was a stroke that led to a coma and irreversible cardiovascular collapse.

“He did not suffer. It all happened quickly,” Vatican News reported Tuesday, citing those who were present in his final moments.

In the hours following his death, many Catholics reflected on the words in his final Easter urbi et orbi blessing, which had been read aloud on his behalf from the loggia on Easter Sunday. 

“The resurrection of Jesus is indeed the basis of our hope. For in the light of this event, hope is no longer an illusion. Thanks to Christ — crucified and risen from the dead — hope does not disappoint! Spes non confundit! (cf. Rom 5:5),” the message says. 

“Christ is risen! These words capture the whole meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death but for life. Easter is the celebration of life! God created us for life and wants the human family to rise again! In his eyes, every life is precious! The life of a child in the mother’s womb, as well as the lives of the elderly and the sick, who in more and more countries are looked upon as people to be discarded,” he wrote.

“In the Lord’s paschal mystery, death and life contended in a stupendous struggle, but the Lord now lives forever (cf. Easter Sequence). He fills us with the certainty that we too are called to share in the life that knows no end, when the clash of arms and the rumble of death will be heard no more. Let us entrust ourselves to him, for he alone can make all things new (cf. Rev. 21:5). Happy Easter to everyone!”

Vatican City, Apr 22, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Throughout his 12-year papacy, Pope Francis gave many addresses, talks, and statements, and he penned numerous encyclicals and apostolic exhortations emphasizing themes of hope, mercy, compassion, and joy. 

His words often focused on the dignity of the poor, migrants, refugees, and the elderly as well as the importance of marriage, family life, and care for the environment. Advocating for “synodality,” Francis also called for a Church that listens and walks together. 

Below is a collection of quotes that reflect Pope Francis’ vision for a more compassionate and Christ-centered world.

Hope

In his first encyclical letter Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis said faith in Jesus Christ helps one to joyfully live life “on wings of hope.” 

Constantly encouraging people to turn to God, the Holy Father opened the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope writing in Spes Non Confundit: “Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love … The death and resurrection of Jesus is the heart of our faith and the basis of our hope.”

Mercy

Pope Francis often said that God’s style is one of “closeness, mercy, and tenderness.” 

Exactly two years before closing the Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Holy Father penned his first papal apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium on the 2013 solemnity of Christ the King, writing: “Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy … Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love.” 

Joy

As the first pontiff in history to criticize “sourpusses” in a papal document, Pope Francis reiterated the evangelical importance of joy, a fruit of the Holy Spirit, in Evangelii Gaudium. 

In a message to participants of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints’ 2022 “Holiness Today” symposium, he said: “Without this joy, faith shrinks into an oppressive and dreary thing; the saints are not ‘sourpusses’ but men and women with joyful hearts, open to hope … Blessed Carlo Acutis is likewise a model of Christian joy for teenagers and young people. And the evangelical, and paradoxical, ‘perfect joy’ of St. Francis of Assisi continues to impress us.”

Love for the poor 

Choosing the name “Francis” in honor of St. Francis of Assisi was a powerful signal to the world that the pope wanted a “Church which is poor and for the poor!” 

With his burning desire for the love of Jesus Christ to reach the world’s peripheries, the Argentinian pope insisted that the poor are true evangelizers who must not be ignored. 

In his 2015 apostolic journey to the Philippines for the country’s Year of the Poor, the Holy Father asked young people: “You who live by always giving, and think that you need nothing, do you realize that you are poor yourself? Do you realize that you are very poor and that you need what they can give you? Do you let yourself be evangelized by the poor, by the sick, by those you assist?” 

Migrants and refugees

Migrants, displaced people, refugees, and victims of human trafficking always held a special place in the Jesuit pontiff’s heart. 

In 2016, Francis instituted the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and called on Catholics worldwide in 2020, through Fratelli Tutti, to open their arms to those affected by war, persecution, poverty, and natural disasters.

In his 2018 World Day of Migrants and Refugees message, he said: “The Lord entrusts to the Church’s motherly love every person forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future … In this regard, I wish to reaffirm that ‘our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote, and to integrate.’”

Environment and climate change

Pope Francis spoke in Catholic and secular venues about the detrimental impacts of a “throwaway culture” perpetuated by unscrupulous profiteering and rampant consumerism. 

Having written two key documents — including Laudate Deum — dedicated to the care for God’s creation, he wrote in Laudato Si’ in 2015: “We have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”

Pets vs. people

The pope was a strong believer that pets should never replace children. 

During his 2023 address at the General State of the Birth Rate conference held in Italy, the Holy Father recalled one brief encounter: “I greeted the woman, and she opened a bag and said: ‘Will you bless him, my baby?’ A dog!”

“I did not have any patience there… ‘Madam, many children are hungry, and you are here with a dog!’ Brothers and sisters, these are scenes from the present, but if things continue like this, it will be the custom of the future: beware.”

Marriage and family life

Among several practical pearls of wisdom for families — including advice to mothers to “stop ironing the shirts” of their sons so that they marry soon — Pope Francis told newlyweds in 2016 that the words: “May I?”, “Thank you,” and “I’m sorry” are key to maintaining peace in the home.  

“There are always problems and arguments in married life,” the pope said. “It is normal for husband and wife to argue and to raise their voices; they squabble, and even plates go flying! So do not be afraid of this when it happens. May I give you a piece of advice: Never end the day without making peace.”

Youth and the elderly

Known as the “grandfather of the children” at the Holy Family Church in Gaza, Pope Francis traditionally used his weekly general audiences to convey his spiritual closeness with both the youth and the elderly. 

When the pope instituted the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, he said: “The future of the world depends on this covenant between young and old. Who, if not the young, can take the dreams of the elderly and make them come true? Yet for this to happen, it is necessary that we continue to dream.” 

“Our dreams of justice, of peace, of solidarity can make it possible for our young people to have new visions; in this way, together, we can build the future,” the pope said.

Synodality

The Argentinian pope often said he preferred a Church that goes out into the world even if “bruised, hurting, and dirty because it has been out on the streets.” 

The Holy Father insisted priests be shepherds “with the smell of sheep,” urged consecrated brothers and sisters to bring God’s “light to the women and men of our time,” and called on laypeople to “bring the novelty and joy of the Gospel wherever you are.” 

Urging all Catholic faithful to learn how to listen and walk together as one missionary Church, the Holy Father said at the close of the Vatican’s 2024 Synod on Synodality meeting: “Everyone, everyone, everyone! Nobody left outside: everyone … It is up to us to amplify the sound of this whispering, never getting in its way; to open the doors, never building walls.” 

“How much damage the women and men of the Church do when they build walls, how much damage! Everyone is welcome, everyone, everyone!” he said.

Popular piety: Our Lady, St. Joseph, and the Heart of Jesus

Pope Francis was known to love the simple faith and devotion of the people. His own childlike affection for Mary, the Mother of God, and St. Joseph was evident to millions. 

However, the pontiff’s belief in the power of popular piety reached its climax in his last and lengthy encyclical letter, Dilexit Nos, in which he wrote: “The flames of love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus also expand through the Church’s missionary outreach, which proclaims the message of God’s love revealed in Christ … As we contemplate the Sacred Heart, mission becomes a matter of love.”

Food

The Church’s first Latin American pope understood the importance of physical and spiritual nourishment.

Besides sharing lessons learnt from his favorite movie, “Babette’s Feast,” the pope would always tell those who prayed the Sunday Angelus with him to “have a good lunch!” 

In Dilexit Nos, the Holy Father stressed just how important culinary traditions are for family life when he wrote: “In this age of artificial intelligence, we cannot forget that poetry and love are necessary to save our humanity.” 

“No algorithm,” he said, “will ever be able to capture, for example, the nostalgia that all of us feel, whatever our age, and wherever we live, when we recall how we first used a fork to seal the edges of the pies that we helped our mothers or grandmothers to make at home.”

CNA Staff, Apr 22, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis, who died on April 21 in Rome at the age of 88, had a special love for creation and urged the faithful to take care of the environment throughout his pontificate.

In May 2015, he published Laudato Si’, an encyclical focusing on care for the environment that includes topics such as global warming and environmental degradation. He then released a follow-up document to the encyclical on Oct. 4, 2023, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, to address current issues.

In remembrance of the Holy Father’s message urging the faithful to take action to protect the natural environment and to celebrate Earth Day, marked every year on April 22, here are 10 quotes from Pope Francis on creation and care for the environment: 

“Nature is a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness. Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise” (Laudato Si’, 12).

“Take good care of creation. St. Francis wanted that. People occasionally forgive, but nature never does. If we don’t take care of the environment, there’s no way of getting around it” (Meeting with the president of Ecuador, April 22, 2013).

“You are called to care for creation not only as responsible citizens but also as followers of Christ! Respect for the environment means more than simply using cleaner products or recycling what we use. These are important aspects, but not enough. We need to see, with the eyes of faith, the beauty of God’s saving plan, the link between the natural environment and the dignity of the human person” (Meeting with Young People, Santo Tomás University, Manila, Jan. 18, 2015).

“The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, God’s boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: Everything is a caress of God” (Laudato Si’, 84).

“The Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love: Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world. The Eucharist joins heaven and earth; it embraces and penetrates all creation” (Laudato Si’, 236).

“As stewards of God’s creation, we are called to make the earth a beautiful garden for the human family. When we destroy our forests, ravage our soil, and pollute our seas, we betray that noble calling” (Meeting with Young People, Santo Tomás University, Manila, Jan. 18, 2015).

“May the relationship between man and nature not be driven by greed, to manipulate and exploit, but may the divine harmony between beings and creation be conserved in the logic of respect and care” (General Audience, April 22, 2015).

“The human family has received from the Creator a common gift: nature … Nature, in a word, is at our disposition and we are called to exercise a responsible stewardship over it. Yet so often we are driven by greed and by the arrogance of dominion, possession, manipulation, and exploitation; we do not preserve nature; nor do we respect it or consider it a gracious gift which we must care for and set at the service of our brothers and sisters, including future generations” (Message for the World Day of Peace, 2014).

“Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude” (General Audience, March 21, 2014).

“We received this world as inheritance from past generations, but also as a loan from future generations, to whom we will have to return it!” (Remarks, Meeting with Political, Business, and Community Leaders, Quito, Ecuador, July 7, 2015).

Vatican City, Apr 22, 2025 / 06:55 am (CNA).

The Vatican on Tuesday released the first photos of Pope Francis after his death, showing him dressed in red vestments and lying in a simple wooden coffin inside the chapel of the Santa Marta guesthouse.

The photos, taken on the evening of April 21 during the first step of the papal funeral rites, show the pontiff, who died earlier in the day at the age of 88, holding a rosary and wearing the papal miter and pallium. The lit Easter candle is visible to Francis’ right, and he is flanked by Swiss Guards.

The photos also show scenes from the “rite of the ascertainment of death and deposition in the coffin,” the first stage in the papal funeral rites, which was presided over by the camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, on April 21.

The photos also show the sealing of the papal apartments in the Casa Santa Marta, where Pope Francis lived during his pontificate. 

Farrell — along with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and his deputy, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra — also closed and sealed the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace, as called for by protocol.

On April 22, the Vatican’s liturgical office also published information about what will happen next in the funeral rites for Pope Francis.

Pope Francis’ coffin will be moved to St. Peter’s Basilica in a solemn procession on the morning of Wednesday, April 23, and placed near the basilica’s main altar for the public to view the body, pray, and say goodbye.

Pope Francis’ funeral Mass, called the “Missa poenitentialis,” will be held in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, April 26.

The funeral will mark the first day of the “Novendiales,” nine consecutive days of mourning for the pope.

Also on Tuesday morning, the College of Cardinals met for the first of its “general congregations,” pre-conclave meetings of cardinals to discuss important Church business during the “sede vacante” (vacant see of Peter), issues facing the universal Church, and what qualities could be desirable in the next pope.

According to the Holy See Press Office, around 60 cardinals were present for the first general congregation, which included prayer for Pope Francis and the reading of his final testament.

The college also chose three cardinals to assist Farrell, the camerlengo, over the next three days: Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Fabio Baggio, and Stanisław Ryłko. The second meeting will be held on the afternoon of April 23.

Vatican City, Apr 22, 2025 / 04:53 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will take place Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican announced Tuesday.

The Mass will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.

Following the funeral, the pope’s coffin will be taken to St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial.

In accordance with his personal wishes, Francis will not be buried in the Vatican grottoes but instead at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a church he visited more than 100 times during his papacy, before and after international trips, in devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated that he plans to attend the funeral with the first lady, Melania Trump. Other heads of state, religious leaders, and thousands of faithful from around the world are expected to attend.

In the days leading up to the funeral, the late pope’s body will lie in state at St. Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful can pay their final respects. He will lie in state from Wednesday morning until the funeral Saturday morning, following the rite of translation on Wednesday, April 23, which will begin at 9 a.m. A procession will pass through Santa Marta Square and the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs before entering the basilica through the central door, according to the Holy See Press Office.

The papal funeral will follow the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, the Vatican’s official liturgical text for papal funerals, which was updated at Francis’ request in 2024. The late pope’s face, his body having been placed in a simple wooden coffin lined with zinc, is covered with a silk veil.

The funeral is the first in nine days of Masses offered for the repose of his soul, known as the “Novendiales.” Each day, a cardinal chosen by the late pope will preside over a Requiem Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Vatican City, Apr 21, 2025 / 17:28 pm (CNA).

Following the death of Pope Francis, an Irish-American cardinal is playing a leading role in overseeing Vatican affairs until the election of a new pope. 

Cardinal Kevin Farrell is a key figure in the papal succession because of his appointment in 2019 as the camerlengo of the apostolic chamber. 

The responsibilities of the camerlengo, or chamberlain, include ascertaining the pope’s death, performing some of the rites connected to a papal funeral, overseeing the preparations for a conclave, and managing the administration of the Holy See until the election of the next pope. 

Farrell’s nomination as camerlengo was one of several marks of the deep trust Pope Francis placed in the Dublin-born cleric.

In 2016, the pope named Farrell prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, which replaced the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Council for the Family. He gave him the cardinal’s red hat months later. 

As prefect, Farrell oversaw the planning of the World Meeting of Families in Dublin in 2018 and in Rome in 2022. He also oversaw World Youth Day in Panama in 2019 and in Portugal in 2023. 

In 2020, Pope Francis put the cardinal in charge of a committee monitoring internal Vatican financial decisions that fell outside other accountability norms, making him uniquely informed about Vatican finances among the hierarchy.

In 2022, the pope also appointed Farrell chairman of a new commission to oversee investments.

At the start of 2024, the cardinal added another position to his list of responsibilities: president of the court of cassation — the Vatican’s so-called “supreme court” — in another papal nomination.  

In his most recent sign of trust in Farrell, Pope Francis also put the cardinal in charge of the reform of the Vatican’s gravely unbalanced pension fund, naming him “sole administrator,” at a critical juncture. 

At the death of the pope, Farrell ceased each of these roles — except for camerlengo. 

Who is Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell?

Kevin Joseph Farrell was born in Ireland on Sept. 2, 1947. He entered the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ in 1966 and was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 24, 1978. Farrell studied at the University of Salamanca in Spain and the Pontifical Gregorian University and Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome.  

He served as chaplain of the Legion of Christ’s apostolic movement Regnum Christi at the University of Monterrey in Mexico. He later denied having prior knowledge of sexual abuse on the part of the Legion of Christ’s founder, Marcial Maciel. 

After leaving the Legionaries, Farrell was incardinated in the Archdiocese of Washington in 1984, serving in roles including director of the Spanish Catholic Center before becoming the archdiocese’s finance officer in 1989. 

In 2002, he was named an auxiliary bishop of Washington, serving as moderator of the curia and vicar general, a chief advisory role, to then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. 

Farrell lived together with McCarrick in a renovated parish building in Washington’s Kalorama neighborhood for six years. He later denied having any knowledge of accusations of sexual abuse against McCarrick, who was dismissed from the clerical state in 2019. 

Farrell caused controversy in 2018 after he suggested in an interview with an Irish Catholic magazine that priests lacked the necessary experience to provide adequate marriage preparation to engaged couples. 

The comment echoed a statement of his from 2017 that priests have “no credibility when it comes to living the reality of marriage.” 

The cardinal was a prominent defender of Pope Francis’ controversial 2016 apostolic exhortation on love in the family, Amoris Laetitia. 

“There is nothing in Amoris Laetitia that is contrary to the Gospel,” he said in 2019. “What does Francis do? He goes to the Gospel. Look at every chapter, it’s straight out of one of the Gospels or the letters of St. Paul.” 

As prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, Farrell helped coordinate the Vatican’s initiatives for the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, marking the fifth anniversary of the text’s publication.  

Role of the camerlengo

The camerlengo is one of only a few major officials of the Roman Curia who does not lose his office while the papacy is vacant. The camerlengo, whose role is regulated by the 1996 document Universi Dominici Gregis and the 2022 apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, administers Church finances and property during the interregnum. 

Paragraph 17 of Universi Dominici Gregis says that “the camerlengo of Holy Roman Church must officially ascertain the pope’s death” and “must also place seals on the pope’s study and bedroom,” and later “the entire papal apartment.” 

The camerlengo is also responsible for notifying the cardinal vicar for Rome of the pope’s death. The cardinal vicar then notifies the people of Rome by special announcement. The camerlengo takes possession of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican and the palaces of the Lateran and of Castel Gandolfo and manages their administration. As Pope Francis resided in the Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City and not the Apostolic Palace, the camerlengo will also be required to take possession and seal those quarters as well for the duration of the sede vacante. 

Only the pope may choose the cardinal to fill the position of camerlengo, though he may also leave it vacant, in which case, the College of Cardinals would hold an election to fill the office at the start of a sede vacante.

Vatican City, Apr 21, 2025 / 16:58 pm (CNA).

Following Pope Francis’ death at age 88 on Easter Monday, the Vatican carried out the first stage in the papal funeral rites, called “the rite of the ascertainment of death and deposition in the coffin.”

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, presided over the rite in the chapel of Pope Francis’ Vatican residence, the Casa Santa Marta, just a little over 12 hours after the pontiff’s death, at 8 p.m. Rome time.

According to the Vatican, the rite took under one hour and the pontiff’s remains will stay overnight in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta.

Farrell — along with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and his deputy Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra — also closed and sealed the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace, as called for by protocol, though Pope Francis chose not to live in the apartment during his pontificate.

The rite on Monday evening was attended by some of Pope Francis’ family members, the director and vice director of the Vatican’s health and hygiene department, and dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re.

After Francis died on the morning of April 21, the director of the Vatican’s health services, Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, examined the pontiff’s body and prepared the death certificate, which said the late pope died from a stroke, coma, and irreversible cardiovascular collapse. The certificate was read during the attestation rite.

Arcangeli also arranged for the proper preservation of the corpse so that its public exposition can be carried out “with the greatest decorum and respect.”

The remains of the deceased Francis were then dressed in his white cassock and moved to the private papal chapel of his Vatican residence for the first part of the funeral rites, which were held at 8 p.m. local time.

During the “rite of the ascertainment of death and deposition in the coffin,” Farrell led the prayers, according to the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, and then the pope’s body was dressed in red liturgical vestments with the miter and pallium and placed in a simple wooden coffin with a zinc lining.

The paschal, or Easter, candle was placed nearby and lit for the next part of the rite, which includes sprinkling holy water on the body. The casket with the pope’s remains was placed within the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta for visitation and prayer until it will be moved for public viewing.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, led a rosary for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on the evening of April 21.

According to the Holy See Press Office, Francis’ remains may be brought to St. Peter’s Basilica for public exposition on the morning of April 23. The exact date and time will be confirmed by the Vatican on April 22.

The College of Cardinals will meet beginning April 22 to make decisions for the running of the Vatican during the “sede vacante,” the period without a pope, and to decide the date and time of Francis’ funeral and burial.

Vatican City, Apr 21, 2025 / 16:38 pm (CNA).

The Vatican on Monday evening hosted a praying of the rosary in St. Peter’s Square following the death of Pope Francis earlier in the day.

Thousands of Catholics gathered together in prayer for the Holy Father, who passed away at age 88 due to complications from a medical crisis earlier in the spring.

CNA Newsroom, Apr 21, 2025 / 15:08 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has released the testament of Pope Francis. The 88-year-old pontiff died on Easter Monday morning, April 21, at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, as confirmed by the Holy See Press Office. He led the Catholic Church for just over 12 years. 

Here is the full text of Pope Francis’ testament:

Miserando atque Eligendo (“With having mercy and choosing him”)

In the name of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

As I sense the approaching twilight of my earthly life, and with firm hope in eternal life, I wish to set out my final wishes solely regarding the place of my burial.

Throughout my life, and during my ministry as a priest and bishop, I have always entrusted myself to the Mother of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary. For this reason, I ask that my mortal remains rest — awaiting the day of the Resurrection — in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

I wish my final earthly journey to end precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary, where I would always stop to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey, confidently entrusting my intentions to the Immaculate Mother, and giving thanks for her gentle and maternal care.

I ask that my tomb be prepared in the burial niche in the side aisle between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the Basilica, as shown in the attached plan.

The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.

The cost of preparing the burial will be covered by a sum provided by a benefactor, which I have arranged to be transferred to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major. I have given the necessary instructions regarding this to Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Liberian Basilica.

May the Lord grant a fitting reward to all those who have loved me and who continue to pray for me. The suffering that has marked the final part of my life, I offer to the Lord, for peace in the world and for fraternity among peoples.

Santa Marta, 29 June 2022
FRANCIS

Vatican City, Apr 21, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).

The Holy See on Monday evening released the death certificate detailing the cause of death of Pope Francis, who died in his Vatican apartment at 7:35 a.m. in Rome on April 21, the day after Easter.

After an examination, Vatican physician Dr. Andrea Arcangeli determined the pope died from a stroke, coma, and irreversible cardiovascular collapse, according to the death certificate published just over 12 hours after Francis’ death.

According to the certificate, compounding factors included Francis’ previous episode of acute respiratory failure from bilateral pneumonia, the chronic disease called bronchiectasis (the permanent enlargement of parts of airways of the lungs), hypertension, and type II diabetes.

Arcangeli, the director of the Vatican’s health and hygiene service, said the cause of death was determined through an EKG.

The Vatican physician is also responsible for ensuring the pontiff’s remains are appropriately preserved so that public exposition of the corpse can be carried out “with the greatest decorum and respect.” 

On the evening of April 21, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, presided over the “rite of the ascertainment of death and deposition in the coffin” in the chapel of Pope Francis’ Vatican residence, the Casa Santa Marta, in which special prayers are said for the pope and his body is dressed in vestments and placed in a coffin.

The College of Cardinals will begin meetings, called general congregations, on April 22 to plan the papal funeral and to make decisions related to the governance of the Church and the running of the Vatican during the sede vacante, or period without a pope.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 21, 2025 / 14:22 pm (CNA).

World leaders from around the globe released statements of mourning and remembrance on Monday in response to the death of Pope Francis, who passed away Monday morning at age 88. 

Ukrainian president grieves Pope Francis, source of ‘spiritual support’

“Millions of people around the world are mourning the tragic news of Pope Francis’ passing,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X on Monday morning.

“[Francis] knew how to give hope, ease suffering through prayer, and foster unity,” Zelenksyy reflected. “He prayed for peace in Ukraine and for Ukrainians. We grieve together with Catholics and all Christians who looked to Pope Francis for spiritual support. Eternal memory!”

President of Ireland: ‘There was a warmth to Pope Francis’

Irish President Michael Higgins on Monday said he “join[ed] with all those across the world, from their different stations in life, who have expressed such profound sadness on learning of the death of Pope Francis."

Higgins, who had met with Francis on five occasions throughout his pontificate, praised the late pope for his “unique humility,” which he said “sought to show in the most striking and moving of ways the extraordinary importance of the spiritual as a powerful source of global ethics in the challenges of contemporary life.” 

He further lauded Francis’ commitment to “the vital issues of our time,” including global hunger and poverty, the plight of migrants, and global peace. 

“In paying tribute to Pope Francis’ legacy, may we all reflect on the ethical approach that is necessary to tackle the many vital issues, including the serious danger of what he termed ‘the globalization of indifference,’ to which he drew the attention of officeholders and their publics,” the Irish president said.

UK prime minister: Francis ‘a pope for the poor, the downtrodden, and the forgotten’ 

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on Monday that he was “deeply saddened” to hear of the pope’s death.

“Pope Francis was a pope for the poor, the downtrodden, and the forgotten,” Starmer wrote. “He was close to the realities of human fragility, meeting Christians around the world facing war, famine, persecution and poverty. Yet he never lost the faith-fueled hope of a better world.”  

“That hope was the heart of his papacy,” he said.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan: Pope’s dedication to peace ‘cannot be forgotten’

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he was “deeply saddened with the passing of Pope Francis.” The leader said he extended his condolences to all believers “for this great loss.”

“His Holiness’ outstanding leadership to have [a] peaceful and just world cannot be forgotten,” he stated.

Canadian prime minister recalls pope’s teachings on economics and human values 

“Through his teachings and actions, Pope Francis redefined the moral responsibilities of leadership in the 21st century,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote in a statement on Monday. 

“His vision of fairness between the generations was rooted in concrete calls for action, policy, and personal responsibility.”

Carney reflected in particular on an address Pope Francis gave during a Vatican meeting in 2014 on the common good within the global market.

“Pope Francis issued a challenge that has guided me ever since,” Carney wrote: “He likened humanity to wine — rich, diverse, full of spirit — and the market to grappa — distilled, intense, and at times disconnected.” 

“He called on us to ‘turn grappa back into wine,’ to reintegrate human values into our economic lives.” 

António Guterres: Pope Francis ‘a messenger of hope, humility, and humanity’ 

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday wrote that he “joine[d] the world in mourning the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis, a messenger of hope, humility, and humanity.”

“Pope Francis was a transcendent voice for peace, human dignity, and social justice,” he continued. “My deepest condolences to Catholics and all those around the world inspired by his extraordinary life and example.”

Jordanian royal family: ‘Humanity has lost an invaluable champion for peace and compassion today’

Jordanian King Abdullah bin Al Hussein and Queen Rania Al Abdullah joined heads of state around the world in reacting to Pope Francis’ passing on Monday morning.

In a social media post on Monday morning, Al Hussein extended his “deepest condolences to our Christian brothers and sisters around the world.”

“Pope Francis was admired by all as the pope of the people. He brought people together, leading with kindness, humility, and compassion. His legacy will live on in his good deeds and teachings,” he added.

“In a world that can often feel heartless,” Queen Rania wrote, “Pope Francis always had love to spare — for the less fortunate, refugee families, and children in war zones, in Gaza and around the world. Humanity has lost an invaluable champion for peace and compassion today. May he rest in peace.”

Former president of Iraq mourns pope’s passing, remembers historic visit

Iraqi-Kurdish politician Barham Salih, who served as president of Iraq from 2018 to 2022, mourned Pope Francis’ death in a post on social media Monday morning.

“Deeply saddened by the passing of Pope Francis — a beacon of compassion and moral courage,” he wrote in the post, which contained several pictures from the Holy Father’s unprecedented visit to Iraq in 2021.

“I had the honor of meeting His Holiness on several occasions, including inviting him for the historic visit to Iraq. May his relentless pursuit of peace, justice, and our common humanity endure.”

Salih said Francis’ visit had “ignited Iraq’s soul.”

Vatican City, Apr 21, 2025 / 13:48 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Church has many historical customs and traditions related to the handling of a pope’s mortal remains between the time of his death and his burial. 

Some of these customs have fallen out of use — such as hitting the pope three times with a hammer to confirm his death — or been removed over time through various papal reforms. 

Most recently, Pope Francis made several changes to the funeral process in a second edition of the 1998 Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, the Church’s liturgical book for the funeral rites of popes. 

According to the master of papal ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the new edition of the liturgical book, issued in 2024, was requested by Pope Francis from a desire “to simplify and adapt some rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the bishop of Rome better expresses the Church’s faith in the risen Christ, eternal Shepherd.”

In the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, the process is divided into three steps, called “stations.”

Here is what has happened and will happen to Pope Francis’ mortal remains prior to his burial.

First station 

After the death of the pope, the director of the Vatican’s health services — currently Dr. Andrea Arcangeli — examines the body and prepares the certificate of death. He also arranges for the proper preservation of the corpse so that its public exposition can be carried out “with the greatest decorum and respect.”

The remains of the deceased pope are then dressed in the white cassock and moved to the private papal chapel for the “rite of the ascertainment of death and deposition in the coffin,” presided over by the camerlengo, currently Cardinal Kevin Farrell.

Following the prayers, the pope’s body — dressed in red liturgical vestments with the miter and pallium — are placed in a simple wooden coffin with a zinc lining, rather than an elevated bier, the so called cataletto (death bed), as was used for Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.  

The paschal, or Easter, candle is placed nearby and lit for the next part of the rite, which includes sprinkling holy water on the body. The casket with the pope’s remains is placed in a suitable place within the Vatican for visitation and prayer until it is moved for public viewing. 

Second station

The second step is the translation or transporting of the coffin in solemn procession to St. Peter’s Basilica, where it is placed close to the basilica’s main altar, the Altar of the Confession, with the paschal candle nearby, in order that the public may view the body, pray, and say goodbye. 

The evening or another time before the funeral, the coffin is closed in a special rite. Prior to closing the casket, a white silk veil is placed over the deceased pope’s face. A bag of the coins minted during his pontificate and one of two copies of a “rogito,” a document summarizing the life and works of the pope, are also placed in the coffin. 

The interior coffin of zinc is closed and sealed first and then the outer wooden coffin is also closed and sealed. 

The funeral, called the “Missa poenitentialis,” is celebrated in St. Peter’s Square and marks the first of the “novendiales,” nine consecutive days of mourning for the pope.

Third station

The casket with funeral pall is next brought to the place of burial, most commonly the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica, where it has been the custom for popes to be buried for over a century. 

Pope Francis, however, will be interred in the Basilica of St. Mary Major at his request, because of his strong devotion to Mary.  

The last pope to be buried outside of the Vatican was Pope Leo XIII, who was buried in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in 1903.  

Seven popes in history have been buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the last in 1669, Pope Clement IX.

Vatican City, Apr 21, 2025 / 12:07 pm (CNA).

Priests from around the world mourned the passing of Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday while reflecting on the late pontiff’s life and historic papacy.

The pope passed away at 7:35 a.m. local time on Easter Monday, April 21, at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. The 88-year-old pontiff led the Catholic Church for a little more than 12 years.

News of the pontiff’s death brought a worldwide response of mourning and remembrance of Francis, who had suffered a double bout of pneumonia and a lengthy hospital stay prior to his death.

‘His name is Francis’

Following the pope’s passing, countless Catholics in Rome on Monday made their way to the Vatican to pray and share memories and reflections of the pontiff.

Father Hans Kreuwels, a priest from the Netherlands visiting Rome with his brother, told CNA at St. Peter’s Square that the late pope’s papal name of Francis “[reminded] us of Francis of Assisi and what he did — he was looking to help the poor.”

“We are sad on one side because this very important pope died,” Kreuwels. “He passed away, but it’s on the day of Easter Monday. It’s the day of the Resurrection. And as we remember this pope, he’s a pope of mercy.”

The priest pointed to the “Angels Unaware” statue in St. Peter’s Square. Crafted by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz, it depicts 140 migrants of different ethnicities and nationalities standing on a boat. Kreuwels noted that Pope Francis’ first papal visit was to the island of Lampedusa, ”where many, many refugees from north of Africa tried to go over the sea, and many thousands of them died.”

The refugee statue “[reminds] us of this visit of the pope and also calling us up to open our hearts for those who are suffering, the refugees, [and] poor people.”

“This jubilee is the year of hope,” the priest observed. “It’s the hope of eternal life. And we greatly believe that on this day of Easter, [Francis] went back to his father, and we hope that he will be happy forever and we see him in heaven again.”

Also in St. Peter’s Square on Monday, two sisters from the Missionaries of Charity order silently offered a rosary in memory of the Holy Father. Pope Francis had in the past praised the order’s “beautiful” ministry at the Vatican.

‘He died with his boots on’

Father Pablo Gefaell, a priest from Spain who teaches canon law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, came to the square to pray in silence with a rosary in his hands in front of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Spanish priest reflected on how Pope Francis had been in St. Peter’s Square just one day before.

“He wanted to be near the people till the last day of his life. In my country we would say, ‘He died with his boots on.’ We are thankful to him for that.”

“I want to pray for his soul. I have no doubt that he’s already in heaven,” the priest said. “But we need a new pope and we are praying for the new pope and for the Holy Spirit to illuminate the cardinals.”

Gefaell had the chance to meet the pope a few times while living in Rome. He said he remembers in particular his sense of humor.

‘What do you do now?’

A priest from the Diocese of Cleveland was in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday morning when he learned that Pope Francis had died just a few hours before at the age of 88. 

Father Eric Garris was praying at the tomb of St. John Paul II — a personal hero of his — when he got the notification on his phone that the Holy Father had died.

“So, I just stood up and looked around, and I’m like, ‘Does anyone know this? What do you do now?’” Garris told CNA. “I wanted to pray for the repose of his soul. … I ran down to the tombs of the popes [underground St. Peter’s Basilica] and I knelt at the tomb of Peter, and I prayed for the repose of the soul of the successor of Peter.”

The 34-year-old Garris, who has been vocations director for the Diocese of Cleveland for three years, was visiting Rome to celebrate the Triduum, Easter octave, and the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, originally planned for April 27 and now postponed due to the pope’s death.

After praying in the grottoes of the Vatican basilica, Garris was joined in St. Peter’s Square by three other American priests staying in Rome. The four of them prayed the Office of the Dead and chanted the “In Paradisum” (traditional prayers for the dead) for Pope Francis’ eternal repose. 

The Cleveland priest said it was and is still shocking to lose the man who had been pope throughout his own eight years of priesthood — especially after just seeing him alive, up close, on Easter Sunday. 

Garris was one of hundreds of priests to concelebrate the Vatican’s Easter Sunday Mass on April 20, where he was three rows away from the altar in St. Peter’s Square. Afterward, he received Pope Francis’ blessing with the rest of the world, when the pontiff appeared on the central balcony of the basilica to wish everyone a happy Easter during the traditional “urbi et orbi” blessing.

Not long after, the priest was in the large thoroughfare leading to the basilica, Via della Conciliazione, when the still frail and ailing pope greeted the crowds gathered at the Vatican from his popemobile — for the first and only time since his 38-day hospitalization for double pneumonia less than one month ago.

“I think if Francis was one thing, he was a pastor, and he wanted to be with his people yesterday,” Garris reflected. “His pastor’s heart and pastoral theology that he not only wrote about but lived was an inspiration for me.”

A tall man, Garris was able to catch a good glimpse — and photo — of Francis despite the flock of cheering people. The priest thought the pope did not look well, but it also never crossed his mind that less than 24 hours later, he would be learning Francis had passed away.

“When Francis was elected, I was in seminary,” he said, “and I was actually in Church history class [at that moment], and I made our professor end class early because I said, ‘We’re living Church history!’” 

“I’ve been a priest for eight years. It’s been all under Francis’ papacy. And there’s something comforting knowing that there’s continuity in a father,” he reflected. “What happens now? It’s not in any way that there’s any sense of fear — I completely have trust in the Holy Spirit — but I just got so used to him being here.” 

“I look at Francis and I’m like, what a joyful disciple and shepherd,” the priest added. “I think at the end of the day, I prayed for him not out of obligation but because [of what the Gospel says]: ‘Lord, this is your servant, who faithfully served you. Well done, good and faithful servant. Come share in your master’s glory.’ And I pray that, and I hope that for him.” 

Courtney Mares, Hannah Brockhaus, and Kristina Millare contributed to this report.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 21, 2025 / 11:41 am (CNA).

The Vatican has announced that despite the death of Pope Francis, the Jubilee of Teenagers is still scheduled to take place in Rome beginning this Friday, April 25, through Sunday, April 27.

According to a statement from the Dicastery for Evangelization, the event is expected to draw upwards of 80,000 teenagers from all over the world to the Vatican.

Several adjustments are being made to the program due to the death of the Holy Father.

Among the changes: The previously scheduled April 27 canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis has been postponed. Due to the time of mourning, the musical celebration at Circus Maximus scheduled for April 26 at 5 p.m. has also been canceled.

Jubilee of Teenagers programming still scheduled to take place includes the April 25 “Via Lucis” prayer time, the “Dialogues with the City” squares on Saturday, April 26, the pilgrimages to the Holy Door and the holy Mass, without the canonization of Acutis, in St. Peter’s Square on April 27.

The first-ever Jubilee of Teenagers figures as one of the most anticipated events of the holy year and is especially dedicated to young people, who will have a unique experience of “faith, spiritual growth, and intercultural exchange.”

The vast majority of those registered come from Italy, although numerous groups are also expected to arrive from the United States, Brazil, India, Spain, Portugal, France, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Germany, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Nigeria, and many other countries.

The delegations will come from dioceses, youth ministries, associations, and movements such as the Association of Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts, Italian Catholic Action, and the Salesian Youth Movement, among others.

The official program includes several highlights, beginning with the Via Lucis (Way of Light), an act of piety in which the apparitions of the risen Christ are meditated upon, which will take place on April 25 in the EUR neighborhood, just outside Rome.

On Saturday, April 26, there will be a day of thematic events throughout Rome, called “Dialogues with the City.”

One of the culminating moments will be on Sunday, April 27, with Mass in St. Peter’s Square, though without the canonization of Acutis.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA

Rome Newsroom, Apr 21, 2025 / 11:11 am (CNA).

The death of Pope Francis begins the so-called “sede vacante,” a period when the See of Peter lies vacant. The time of the sede vacante after the pope’s death brings with it a series of symbols, traditions, and protocols that have existed for centuries and express the papacy’s essence. 

The principal figure of the sede vacante period is the camerlengo, currently the Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is also current prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life and former bishop of Dallas.

The pope appoints the camerlengo, and Farrell was chosen in 2019, replacing the French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran after his death at age 75. 

The tasks and duties of the camerlengo are regulated by Pope Francis’ 2022 apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, which deals with the functions and structure of the Roman Curia’s offices, and another apostolic constitution, St. John Paul II’s Universi Dominici Gregis, issued in 1996 and that governs the sede vacante and the election of a new pope.  

The camerlengo used to head the Apostolic Camera, an institution that dates back to the 12th century, and was entrusted to manage the goods of the Church during the sede vacante. It comprises the camerlengo, the vice-chamberlain, the general auditor, and the college of clerical prelates of the camera.

However, the Apostolic Camera has been suppressed by Praedicate Evangelium. According to the new constitution, the camerlengo is assisted by three cardinals. One is the cardinal coordinator of the Council for the Economy and the other two are “identified according to the modalities provided for by the legislation on the vacancy of the Apostolic See and the election of the Roman pontiff.”

What does the camerlengo do?  

First, when the pope dies, he has to “ascertain the pope’s death, in the presence of the master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, the cleric prelates of the Apostolic Camera, and the secretary and chancellor of the same,” according to Universi Dominici Gregis. 

The camerlengo must also break the Ring of the Fisherman, which the pope wears for the first time at his installation Mass, annulling the seal of the pontificate. The camerlengo will, in addition, seal the pope’s study and bedroom: No one will be able to enter the papal apartments until after his burial.  

It is likely that the process will be slightly different with Pope Francis, who chose the Casa Santa Marta rather than the Apostolic Palace as his residence after his election in 2013. In this case, the camerlengo will have to seal not only the papal apartments, which remained unused during this pontificate, but also the pope’s apartment in the Vatican guesthouse. 

After these procedures, the camerlengo notifies the cardinal vicar of the Diocese of Rome of the pope’s death. The vicar, currently Cardinal Baldassare Reina, must then inform the people of Rome via a special announcement. 

The camerlengo also has to inform the cardinal archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, of the news. The camerlengo must then take possession of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican and the Lateran and Castel Gandolfo palaces. 

It is the camerlengo’s duty to make all the arrangements for the pope’s funeral and burial after having discussed the matter with the members of the College of Cardinals.  

There is no such thing as a “vice pope.” The camerlengo, therefore, does not assume papal authority. Instead, he manages regular administration, with help from the three cardinal assistants, while maintaining contact throughout with the College of Cardinals.

The pope reformed the rite of the papal funeral, too.

First, the certification of the pope’s death does not take place in the room where he dies but in his private chapel. The camerlengo calls the deceased pope three times by his baptismal name. The baptismal name is used rather than the papal name since the deceased pope’s papal identity and function ceases upon his death. The tradition of tapping the deceased pope three times with a small silver hammer has long been in disuse.

The pope’s body is immediately placed inside an open coffin rather than an elevated bier, the so-called cata-letto (death bed), as happened with John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Also, the revised rites eliminate the use of three coffins — one of cypress, one of lead, and one of oak. Instead, the body is placed in a simple wooden coffin with a zinc lining and transferred immediately to St. Peter’s Basilica, without passing through the Apostolic Palace for another exposition, as was done previously.  

The funeral, called the “Missa Poenitentialis,” is celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica or St. Peter’s Square. Delegations from all over the world attend. The pope’s body is borne in a plain wooden coffin, with a silk veil covering his face. 

No one is allowed to take pictures of the deceased pope unless specially authorized by the camerlengo. The image, however, must be taken with the pope dressed in the pontifical robes.  

Until the practice was ended by Pope Pius X, the pope’s internal organs were removed and preserved in special amphorae secured in the Church of St. Anastasio and Vincenzo in Rome before the body was embalmed. 

Once the pope has died, all the cardinals of the Roman Curia, including the cardinal secretary of state, vacate their positions. The only posts that are maintained during the sede vacante period are those of the camerlengo, the major penitentiary, the papal almoner, the cardinal vicars of Rome and Vatican City State, and the dean of the College of Cardinals.

The camerlengo will later summon the cardinals for the general congregations that precede the election of a new pope. Then, within 20 days of the pope’s death, the cardinals eligible to vote gather in the conclave to elect a successor.

Vatican City, Apr 21, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’ death today marks the end of a historic 12-year papacy. The first Latin American and the first member of the Society of Jesus to be elected pope, his legacy will be shaped by his efforts to bring the Gospel to the peripheries of the world and the margins of society while shaking up — sometimes vigorously and uncomfortably — what he saw as an unacceptably self-referential, unwelcoming, and rigid Catholic status quo.

After Pope Benedict XVI’s unexpected resignation in February 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was given a mandate for reform on March 13, 2013, by the cardinals in the conclave convened.

Ahead of the 2013 conclave, the 76-year-old Jesuit from Argentina was not initially considered a front-runner. However, after he presented his vision for Church reform in a speech to the cardinals leading up to the conclave, a majority of electors were persuaded that he would offer a strong response to the ongoing scandals and challenges roiling the Church and provide solutions to collapsing Church attendance and vocations.

Taking the name of the 13th-century Italian saint and founder of the Franciscan order, Francis of Assisi, who adopted a life of radical poverty as he served those in need and preached the Gospel in the streets, the new pope aimed at fostering a Church reaching out to the poor, marginalized, and forgotten and capable of dealing with the complexities of the faith and human relationships in the world today.

“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting, and dirty because it has been out on the streets rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security,” Francis stated in Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”), his 2013 apostolic exhortation that called for pastoral engagement in slums and boardrooms.  

Evangelii Gaudium was considered a manifesto for the new pontificate. Still, the true blueprint for his pontificate predated his election and was distinctly Latin American: the 2007 concluding document of the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American episcopate held in Aparecida, Brazil, that Cardinal Bergoglio was chiefly responsible for drafting.   

The “Aparecida Document” introduced many of the strategies for evangelization later taken up in Evangelii Gaudium and reiterated in Querida Amazonia, his 2020 postsynodal apostolic exhortation written in response to the 2019 Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region. 

Aparecida called for a “great continental mission,” an outward-looking, humble Church with a preferential concern for creation, popular piety, the poor, and those on the peripheries. “It will be,” he wrote, “a new Pentecost that impels us to go, in a special way, in search of the fallen away Catholics, and of those who know little or nothing about Jesus Christ, so that we may joyfully form the community of love of God our Father. A mission that must reach everyone, be permanent and profound.”

Once pope, Francis made the “great continental mission” an undertaking for the universal Church.

Speaking in 2013 at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, he urged his youthful audience to be unafraid of shaking things up in order to evangelize more effectively.

“What is it that I expect as a consequence of World Youth Day?” he asked them. “I want a mess. … I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves, in our parishes, schools, or structures. Because these need to get out!”

In pursuit of this “messy” evangelization, Francis offered a grand vision of decentralization, listening, and accompaniment, a Church of pastoral and merciful engagement over rigid doctrinal precision and clericalism. The pope frequently declared “Todos, todos, todos” (“All, all, all”) as an expression of how the Church must be a welcoming place of mercy.

In December 2015, Pope Francis inaugurated an extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, a special time for the Church to help the whole Church “rediscover and make fruitful the mercy of God, with which all of us are called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time.” Missionaries of Mercy were commissioned in 2016 to preach the gospel of mercy and make that invitation concrete through the sacrament of confession.

The centerpiece of his final years was the ongoing pursuit of synodality for the Church embodied in the three-year Synod on Synodality (2021–2024), aimed at permanently recasting the global Church so that all its members, the people of God, “journey together, gather in assembly, and take an active part in her evangelizing mission.”  

Yet from early on, his pontificate brought to the surface existing tensions within the Church, beginning at the tumultuous 2014 and 2015 Synods on Marriage and the Family, where cardinals debated the controversial proposal to lift the Church’s ban on reception of Communion for the divorced and civilly married. Francis’ postsynodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”) failed to dampen the controversy due to its unclear position on this contentious doctrinal issue.

These divisions deepened further in the years after as some Church leaders, particularly in Germany, seized on Francis’ seeming doctrinal ambiguity to press for changes to Church teachings such as priestly celibacy, homosexual unions, and women’s ordination. Tensions mounted further in the reaction across the Church to the 2021 decree Traditionis Custodes (“Guardians of Tradition”), which sharply curtailed the Traditional Latin Mass, and the 2023 decree Fiducia Supplicans (“The Supplicating Trust of the Faithful”) that permitted forms of nonliturgical blessings to same-sex couples and couples in irregular situations.

The Holy Father, however, drew clear lines in the sand on key teaching areas. With the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 2024 document Dignitas Infinita (“Infinite Dignity”), Francis reaffirmed the Church’s perennial opposition to abortion, euthanasia, and gender ideology. He used a much-publicized CBS “60 Minutes” interview in May 2024 to state again categorically that women’s ordination to the priesthood and the diaconate was off the table.

By the end, he had disappointed Catholic progressives and many in the secular media who had expected a full-scale doctrinal revolution in the Church rather than the process of pastoral reform he pursued.

A child of immigrants

Born on Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was one of five children of Italian immigrants. His father, Mario, was an accountant for the country’s railways, and his mother, Regina Sivori, was a housewife.   

Raised in the bustling lower-middle-class Flores sector in the center of Buenos Aires, young Jorge spent a good deal of time with his beloved grandmother, Rosa, whom he credits with introducing him to the faith. 

However, the critical moment in discerning his vocation occurred on Sept. 21, 1953, when he experienced a life-changing encounter with God’s mercy in the confessional. “After making my confession I felt something had changed. I was not the same,” he recalled in 2010. “I had heard something like a voice, or a call. I was convinced that I should become a priest.”

After completing studies to become a chemical technician, he entered a diocesan seminary. He transferred to the Jesuit novitiate in 1958, was ordained a priest in 1969, and made his final profession with the Jesuits in 1973.

In short order, he served in various roles with increasing levels of responsibility. He became provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina in the same year as his final profession, when he was just 36 years old.

He held that office for six years, a period that overlapped with the turbulent aftermath of the Second Vatican Council that convulsed the Society of Jesus’ established practices and with Argentina’s infamous Dirty War (1976–1983), during which the military junta ruling the country tortured and “disappeared” tens of thousands of dissidents and political opponents.

The horrors of the Dirty War forged in the young Jesuit priest a deep and abiding antipathy for political ideologies, whether they originated on the left or the right.

And though some Jesuits in Latin and Central America would later embrace Marxist elements of liberation theology and revolutionary struggle, he and most of his Argentine brethren rejected that path.

The Argentinean “current” of liberation theology “never used Marxist categories, or the Marxist analysis of society,” Jesuit Father Juan Carlos Scannone explained in “Our Brother, Our Friend: Personal Recollections about the Man Who Became Pope.” “Bergolio’s pastoral work is understood in this context.”

Leading with controversies

While navigating the treacherous political landscape of the period, Father Bergoglio stirred enormous controversy as he undertook reforms of the local Jesuit province. By his own admission, much of the disagreement stemmed from his imperious leadership style at the time. “I had to deal with difficult situations, and I made my decisions abruptly and by myself,” he said in a 2013 interview. “My authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions led me to have serious problems and to be accused of being ultra-conservative.”  

Following his time as provincial, he served from 1980–1986 as rector of the Jesuit seminary in San Miguel. His tenure as rector was again divisive, with critics accusing him of trying to reshape the institution along pre-Vatican II lines that conflicted with contemporary Jesuit practices elsewhere in Latin America.

“He was not, as some have accused him of being, a conservative who wanted to take them to the preconciliar era but a renewalist, like Benedict XVI, who resisted attempts to conform the Church to the world in the name of modernity,” papal biographer Austen Ivereigh told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, as he discussed Father Bergoglio’s estrangement from the local Jesuits and his subsequent “internal exile” from his religious order that endured until he was elected pope.

After leaving his seminary post, he traveled to Germany in 1986 with the goal of finishing his doctorate. After his return, he initially maintained a position of influence among the local Jesuits. But in 1990, now in his early 50s and with his critics also now in a position of dominance, Father Bergoglio was sent away from Buenos Aires to serve as the spiritual director and confessor of the Residencia Jesuita community in Córdoba, Argentina. It was a disciplinary move, undertaken with the approval of Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, the superior general of the Society of Jesus, that Francis recalled as “a time of great interior crisis” in a 2013 papal interview.

Still, Father Bergoglio’s no-frills austerity, closeness to the poor and prodigious capacity for humble hands-on service inspired a cadre of young Jesuit disciples to emulate his priestly gifts during and after his rocky tenure as provincial and seminary rector.  

“When we would get up at 6:30 or 7 to go to Mass, Bergoglio would have already prayed and already washed the sheets and towels for 150 Jesuits in the laundry room,” recalled Jesuit Cardinal Ángel Rossi, a former student at the Residencia Jesuita community, in “Pope Francis, Our Brother, Our Friend: Personal Recollections about the Man Who Became Pope.”

Episcopal service

In 1992, at the request of Cardinal Antonio Quarracino of Buenos Aires, Pope John Paul II unexpectedly plucked Father Bergoglio from his exile in Córdoba by appointing him auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. In 1997, John Paul II named him coadjutor archbishop of Buenos Aires with the right of succession. Upon Quarracino’s death in February 1998, Bergoglio became the metropolitan archbishop of Buenos Aires. John Paul II elevated him to the College of Cardinals in 2001.   

As archbishop, he famously eschewed the trappings of office, traveling on the subway, residing in a simple apartment, and devoting much of his time to the poor and those living in the city’s slums.  

Meanwhile, he showed himself to be politically astute, unafraid to confront Argentina’s political leaders, and a practitioner of elements of Peronism — the “third way” nationalist platform of the late Argentine strongman Juan Peron, who celebrated Argentina’s Catholic roots and ramped up social spending while eschewing both Marxism and capitalism.    

“Power is born of confidence, not with manipulation, intimidation, or with arrogance,” Cardinal Bergoglio said in a 2006 homily that took aim at Argentina’s Kirchner government, which had adopted a more left-wing approach to Peronism than his own position and had clashed with the archbishop on moral issues.  

Beyond Argentina, his major role at the 2007 Fifth General Conference of the Latin American episcopate in Aparecida, Brazil, thrust him into greater prominence in the global Church. Writing in First Things in 2012 about the final document, Catholic commentator George Weigel highlighted its evangelical focus.   

“The first thing to note about the Aparecida Document is its strongly evangelical thrust: Everyone in the Church, the bishops write, is baptized to be a ‘missionary disciple,’” Weigel said approvingly, in words that presciently anticipated Francis’ vision for the papacy. “Everywhere is mission territory, and everything in the Church must be mission-driven.”  

A pontificate of the peripheries

Eight years after reportedly finishing as the runner-up in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Bergoglio was picked by the College of Cardinals to succeed the German-born pope. The newly elected pontiff — the first non-European pope since Gregory III in 741 — immediately set the tone for his pontificate. “You know that the duty of the conclave was to give a bishop to Rome,” he declared from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on the evening of his election. “It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world to get him. But here we are.”  

Many of the concerns he pursued in Argentina and at Aparecida became foundations for his papacy. He shunned traditional papal garments and moved into the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guesthouse, instead of the traditional papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace. He continually emphasized the need for a Church that “goes out of herself to evangelize,” searching out and accompanying those on the “peripheries” of human existence. Important maxims from the Francis pontificate — the Church as a field hospital, “going out to the margins,” and the need for Church leaders to “smell like the sheep” — were complemented by a series of powerful images, such as the Holy Father washing the feet of prisoners and a young Muslim on Holy Thursday, embracing a disfigured man in St. Peter’s Square, and posing for selfies with young people.  

Francis repeatedly reemphasized the centrality of this evangelical approach. “The true Church is at the peripheries,” he stated in Disney’s documentary “The Pope: Answers,” released in April 2023.   

His first trip outside Rome after his election was to the small Mediterranean Italian island of Lampedusa, where he drew attention to the plight of undocumented migrants crossing deadly seas to enter Europe. He often spoke of the terrible plight of migrants and refugees, the divide between the global north and south and between the developing and wealthy countries, warning against economic policies that exploit poorer nations, a reflection of his familiarity with capitalism from a Latin American perspective. He criticized sharply what he called a “globalization of indifference” — an attitude that ignores people’s suffering on the margins of society and a “throwaway culture” that viewed the weak and vulnerable as disposable.  

One similar recurring feature of this focus on the peripheries was his framing of efforts by wealthy nations to impose abortion, contraception, and gender ideology on developing countries in return for aid and development as manifestations of “ideological colonization.”   

Such condemnations demonstrated that Pope Francis’ outreaches to the margins of human society defied efforts to cast him as a supporter only of progressive political and social agendas. During his April 2023 visit to Hungary — a European nation whose conservative alignment supposedly conflicted with his papal priorities for that continent — he denounced “the baneful path taken by those forms of ‘ideological colonization’ that would cancel differences, as in the case of the so-called gender theory, or that would place before the reality of life reductive concepts of freedom, for example by vaunting as progress a senseless ‘right to abortion,’ which is always a tragic defeat.”  

The Holy Father’s informal communication style — highlighted by interviews such as the ones he gave to the late Italian atheist journalist Eugenio Scalfari and his off-the-cuff comments, especially his press conferences on the papal plane — made possible the rise of a parallel, media-generated quasi-magisterium in which secular and progressive Catholic media used his comments to claim that he was calling for major changes to Church teaching.  

One legacy-defining example occurred during an in-flight press conference on the way home from World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013, when the Holy Father was asked to comment about a specific repentant Vatican official and the rumored existence of a gay lobby at the Vatican.   

Francis offered a nuanced response to the query, distinguishing between a person simply being gay as opposed to participating in a lobby. “If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge?” he said. Instead of seeing it as a pastoral gesture toward homosexual persons, many news reports characterized the remark as a softening of the Church’s moral prohibition of same-sex acts, with no meaningful clarification provided afterward from the Vatican.  

Pope Francis also sought to build bridges with the international community through his words and actions. The two encyclicals written entirely during his pontificate, Laudato Si' (2015), on caring for our common home, and Fratelli Tutti (2020), which emphasized fraternity and social friendship, were well-received by the international press. 

In total, Francis authored four encyclicals during his reign, complemented by seven apostolic exhortations and 75 motu proprio documents, making him one of the most prolific popes in terms of magisterial teaching.  

His March 2020 urbi et orbi address and blessing, delivered amid the COVID-19 pandemic as he stood in an empty, rainy St. Peter’s Square, as well as playing the role of peacemaker by working to restore U.S.-Cuban diplomatic ties and offering to mediate an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, helped establish the pope as a spiritual father figure not only for the Church but also for the wider world. In 2024, he became the first pope to participate in the G7 meeting of world leaders, urging them to be aware of the threat and the promise of artificial intelligence.  

The pope’s desire for negotiation and dialogue also led him to sign a secret agreement with Beijing on appointing bishops in 2018 — for which he received strong opposition. The agreement was slammed by human rights advocates and other critics as an “incredible betrayal” and “absolutely incomprehensible” as Beijing further clamped down on religious freedom and violated the agreement on numerous occasions. The Vatican did not back down, however, insisting that patience was needed for the initiative to bear fruit despite frequent violations of the accord by the Chinese communist regime and the increasingly draconian application of its program of “sinicization,” which mandates that all religions must conform to communist precepts and be independent of foreign influence.   

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Dicastery for Bishops during much of Francis’ reign, said the late pope’s ability to generate interest in the Church from those on the outside was a sign of his “missionary style.”

“A missionary is at the borders; he is looking for those who are far away,” he told EWTN News in a February 2023 interview.

Pope Francis’ global missionary spirit was evident in his many papal travels. The late pope made 47 apostolic journeys outside Italy, visiting 61 total countries, averaging six countries per year. The rate was even higher than the five-per-year pace of the original “traveling pope,” St. John Paul II. Francis’ visits, which included places like war-torn Iraq, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan, indicated a preference for the Global South and nations plagued by conflict.   

This preference for the global margins was further reflected in Pope Francis’ selection of many new members for the College of Cardinals. Through 10 consistories, he created 149 new cardinals, dramatically reshaping the college’s composition. During his pontificate, the makeup of the college underwent a historic transformation, falling from 52% European at the start of his papacy to just 35% today. The college now reflects a more global Church, with South America and Asia each representing 15% of cardinals, North America 17%, Africa 12%, and Oceania 7%.  

Pope Francis was responsible for selecting 108 of the 135 cardinals who will now vote for his successor. 

His global vision was particularly evident in his appointments of cardinals from countries with tiny Catholic populations, such as Mongolia and Morocco, from the peripheries, such as Tonga and Haiti, and from places of strife, such as Myanmar, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic.  

Francis’ tendency to appoint members to the College of Cardinals based on personal instinct, recommendations, or connections over standing custom also led him to pass over candidates from long-standing cardinalatial sees. For instance, in the U.S., Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, the former president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and head of the largest archdiocese in the U.S., never received the red hat. At the same time, Pope Francis made Bishop Robert McElroy of the Diocese of San Diego a cardinal in 2022. Likewise, Archbishop Mario Delpini, a Francis appointee as head of the Milan Archdiocese, the largest in Italy, was also conspicuously deprived of the cardinalate.    

But just as erroneous assumptions abounded about his supposed intent to abandon core points of Church teaching, there was also a mistaken belief that his appointments to the College of Cardinals were uniformly progressives. Many Francis appointees, such as McElroy, Cardinal Leonardo Steiner of Brazil, and the Jesuit Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, are committed progressives. At the same time, Francis named several known conservatives, including Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Carmelite Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden; and Capuchin Franciscan Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who led the African bishops’ opposition to Fiducia Supplicans in 2024.   

That balance in his appointments was similarly mirrored in the canonizations throughout his pontificate. Pope Francis canonized three of his predecessors, John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II. He also canonized a total of 942 saints. These include the 813 Martyrs of Otranto; Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero, a courageous critic of government human rights abuses; the great English convert and cardinal John Henry Newman; and Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The pontiff also added two new doctors of the Church: the Armenian St. Gregory of Narek and the Church Father St. Irenaeus of Lyon. He called Irenaeus the “doctor of unity.”  

Internal reform

Francis’ outward emphasis was matched by serious efforts to reform the inner structures of the Catholic Church to free it up for a greater focus on mission and service. Early on, he appointed a council of cardinals to advise him on curial and Church reform. Its labors culminated in March 2022 with the promulgation of a new apostolic constitution for the Holy See, Praedicate Evangelium, that allowed dicasteries, or Vatican departments, to be headed by lay baptized Catholics and placed greater emphasis on evangelization. The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which dates to 1622, and the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, created by Benedict XVI in 2010, were combined to form the Dicastery for Evangelization, presided over directly by the pope and superseding the long-standing position of preeminence of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in the ranks of Vatican offices.   

Francis tackled some aspects of Vatican finances, even as ongoing scandals overshadowed that progress. The pope himself was drawn into one high-profile fraud case that led to the trial and 2023 conviction of one of his closest cardinal collaborators, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, on allegations of financial misconduct.  

Francis also undertook a series of reforms related to the scourge of clergy sexual abuse, beginning in 2014 with the creation of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, headed by Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, who was also a member of the pope’s Council of Cardinals. Francis convened a global Vatican summit on the issue in 2019, which gave rise to his new Vos Estis guidelines intended to strengthen provisions for bringing abusive priests to justice and holding bishops accountable for their handling of abuse allegations.   

But the Holy Father’s style of governance — which often relied upon going with his gut instead of following established procedures and a tendency to keep all decision-making in his own hands — arguably led to blind spots in his crackdown on abuse.  

“A handful of priests, bishops, and cardinals whom Francis has trusted over the years have turned out to be either accused of sexual misconduct or convicted of it, or of having covered it up,” AP Rome correspondent Nicole Winfield reported in 2020. This referred to Francis initially disbelieving allegations against a bishop in Chile that turned out to be true and also reportedly turning a blind eye to reports of former cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s sexual misconduct until allegations were made public in 2018. Questions were raised as well about Francis’ awareness of the case of the famed Slovenian Jesuit mosaic artist Marko Rupnik, who was accused of sexual misconduct, briefly excommunicated, and finally expelled from the Society of Jesus. At the end of the pontificate, the wider sex abuse scandal was still swirling in several countries, including Bolivia and Portugal.  

Criticism of his handling of the abuse crisis reached a new level of severity in 2018 when Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former nuncio to the United States, accused Pope Francis of negligence in handling allegations of sexual misconduct involving McCarrick and called on the pope to resign. By 2024, Viganò’s extreme rhetoric — including calling Francis a heretic — led to his condemnation as a schismatic by the Vatican.   

Pope of synodality

One of Pope Francis’ most significant projects in the second half of his pontificate was his implementation of “synodality” in the life of the Church.   

Reflecting the ecclesiastical vision that was articulated at Aparecida and in Evangelii Gaudium, Francis used the Synod of Bishops to craft a more listening Church, an “inverted pyramid” that took the people of God as its starting point and significantly raised the profile of the General Secretariat of the Synod under its secretary general, the Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech.   

But many critics feared that his approach departed from St. Paul VI’s vision of a Synod of Bishops, could undermine Rome’s authority, lead to further confusion among the faithful, and open a path to change Church teaching in a host of areas.   

Synods covering the family and marriage, youth, and the Amazon featured unfettered discussions, with some Church leaders openly demanding a change to Church discipline to address new pastoral realities on the ground, and even calling for granting women access to a form of the diaconate.  

Francis’ 2016 postsynodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”), following from the sometimes contentious 2014 and 2015 Synods on the Family, made headlines for what critics saw as the creation of conditions in which the divorced and civilly remarried could receive Communion. Church leaders and dioceses offered dueling interpretations of the document’s pastoral guidance, and four cardinals’ September 2016 submission of five questions, or “dubia,” asking for clarity amid “grave disorientation and great confusion,” went unaddressed by the pope. Subsequent dubia sent to Rome in 2023 were answered by Francis’ new doctrine chief, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, in terms that seemed to confirm the broadest interpretation possible.     

Meanwhile, some radical lay German Catholics, with the support of most of the German bishops, found inspiration in the pope’s approach and launched their own Synodal Way to demand changes to Church teaching on priestly celibacy, homosexual unions, and women’s ordination. Despite being rebuked by Francis as “elitist,” “unhelpful,” and “ideological,” the Germans pushed ahead with their process and risked a schism.   

At the same time, Francis faced disapproval from some conservative prelates who feared that his doctrinal ambiguity, his handling of the abuse crisis and his disparagement of some in the Church for clericalism and rigidity were confusing the faithful and demoralizing priests and seminarians.   

Francis similarly created ripples with his treatment of Catholic communities attached to the Traditional Latin Mass. Traditionis Custodes, his 2021 decree restricting its celebration, shocked adherents to the rite and prompted even some of the pope’s liberal allies to characterize the document’s stern language and severe suppression as a stunning departure from the pope’s call for a synodal listening approach. Others, like the Dominican and longtime Vatican official Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, have argued that the pope’s intervention was necessary to head off the false idea that the pre-Vatican II Mass is the true liturgy for the true Church.  

Immense controversy likewise surrounded the document issued by Fernández at the end of 2023, Fiducia Supplicans, that allowed nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and couples in irregular situations. The decree sparked strong disagreements among the world’s bishops, with almost all African bishops refusing to implement the decree, saying in a formal statement in January 2024 that “it has sown misconceptions and unrest in the minds of many lay faithful, consecrated persons, and even pastors.”

Francis, however, also was consistently clear on key areas of Church teaching. Through the 2024 decree Dignitas Infinita (“Infinite Dignity”) issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, for example, Francis reiterated the Church’s perennial teachings on the dignity of the human person.

Undeterred by the critics, the Holy Father pushed ahead with his vision for a synodal Church launching in 2021 a multiyear, global consultative process, which ended in two “Synods on Synodality” in Rome in October 2023 and October 2024.

Francis made the unprecedented decision to forgo writing a postsynodal apostolic exhortation at the conclusion, choosing instead to directly implement the synod’s final document. “What we have approved in the document is enough,” he declared, marking a historic shift in how synodal reforms may be implemented.  

Francis clearly intended to place the Church on a path from which, institutionally and even theologically, it would be difficult to turn back. This was especially apparent in his choice in 2023 of his friend, then-Archbishop Fernández, an Argentinian theologian and ghostwriter of several of Francis’ major writings, including Laudato Si’ and especially Amoris Laetitia, to be the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and a member of the College of Cardinals. In the letter accompanying his appointment, Francis called on his new prefect “to verify that the documents of your own dicastery and of the others have an adequate theological support, are coherent with the rich humus of the perennial teaching of the Church and at the same time take into account the recent magisterium,” meaning Francis’ writings over the last decade, many of which Fernández himself helped write.   

‘With doors always wide open’

Pope Francis’ health declined in his last years due to several medical challenges, including sciatica, respiratory issues, ligament damage in his knees, and two bouts of intestinal surgeries. Mobility issues forced him to start using a wheelchair in 2022. Still, he remained impressively active almost to the very end, maintaining a demanding schedule of audiences and travel, even while moderating his pace in his final months.

Many around the world will retain vivid images of Francis embracing the poorest and most stricken, a champion of mercy and accompaniment. He declared on the night of his election that he had come from the ends of the earth. In his unexpected and often unappreciated pontificate, he reached out to the ends of the earth to declare a place of welcome for all, “todos, todos, todos.” 

“The Church is called to be the house of the Father,” he wrote in Evangelii Gaudium, “with doors always wide open. One concrete sign of such openness is that our church doors should always be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door.”

On Dec. 24, 2024, as the first “pilgrim of hope,” he opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, inaugurating the 2025 Jubilee Year. In a historic first, he also opened a Holy Door within Rome’s Rebibbia prison, demonstrating his continued commitment to those on society’s margins.

The pontiff’s final medical challenge was a bout of pneumonia that led to a lengthy hospitalization in early 2025 from which he ultimately never recovered. His last public appearance was on Easter Sunday, where he took part in the traditional urbi et orbi. He struggled to be close to the Church and its people until the end, pushing to be present to the world in his frailty. 

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, in his apartment at Casa Santa Marta.

The pope’s death leaves the massive project of synodality and the curial reforms unfinished. It now falls to the cardinals to choose a successor who will decide how or whether to carry the Francis agenda forward. He bequeaths a polarized Catholic community beset by the crises of modernity and relativism. Still, his vision for a Church of the peripheries that listens and walks with the suffering with mercy unquestionably disrupted the status quo and launched a process that will continue to impact global Catholicism long after he is laid to rest.