Pope Francis has died, aged 88, at his residence after a long stay at Hospital Gemelli in Rome due to ‘an asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude,’ which led him to require the use of a high level of oxygen flows, according to a bulletin from the Vatican.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was the first-ever head of the Catholic Church born in the southern hemisphere and outside Europe since Syrian, Pope Gregory in the Eighth Century.
He joined the Jesuits in 1958 and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1969 at 33 years old. In 1998, he became archbishop of Buenos Aires by Pope John Paul II. During the 2001 financial collapse and subsequent riots, Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him to be a political threat.
After Pope Benedict XVI resigned his position on February 28, 2013, The papal conclave chose Bergoglio as his successor and named him Pope Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi.
Pope Francis considered most groundbreaking
In recent history, he had been considered one of the most revolutionary popes in that he often broke with the strict dogma of the church. On Italian television, he said he hoped hell was empty. To an interfaith group in Singapore, he broke with the writings of the Bible saying that all religions are a pathway to God.
Francis’s decision to get involved in what are conventionally seen as political debates, from economics to migration policy has been a source of debate from the beginning. He criticised so-called ‘trickle-down’ economics, gaining him a reputation among some as a Communist. His views on immigration and climate change and the environment are also among the most controversial of his papacy.
His has always advocated for an open-door policy for migrants and refugees into Europe and has continually met with derision, from both everyday citizens and politicians. As well, he suggested inviting divorced and remarried people back into the church which caused uproar. The Pope argued that nothing is black and white and that cases should be judged on a person-to-person basis.
He used the same ethos when it came to pro-choice politicians saying it was the church’s job to be pastors and not police.
Pope Francis has died – what next?
Now that the pontiff has passed, there will be nine days of official mourning known as the Novendiale. Outside Vatican City, Italy also takes on the state of official mourning. His body will be blessed, dressed in papal vestments and exhibited in St. Peter’s Basilica for public viewing, where hundreds of thousands will line up to pay their respects, including foreign dignitaries and world leaders.
The pope’s funeral will most likely be held in St. Peter’s Square between four and six days after his death, with mourners packing into the Vatican for the service.
Two to three weeks after the pope’s funeral, the College of Cardinals will convene in the Sistine Chapel to hold a conclave, the highly secretive process of electing a new pope. On the day of voting, the Sistine Chapel, with its famed ceiling painted by Michelangelo, is physically sealed off and the cardinals, who have taken an oath of secrecy, are locked inside.
