Divine disruptor: Pope Francis dies of stroke hours after attending Easter commemoration
Pope Francis will be buried not at the Vatican but in Rome, as his death plunges Catholics into mourning and heralds a new era of uncertainty for the church.
Pope Francis has died, plunging Catholics into mourning and heralding a new era of uncertainty for the world’s oldest and largest church barely hours after he appeared at Easter commemorations in Rome.
The 88-year-old pontiff died of stroke and “irreversible heart failure,” the Vatican said in a statement, succumbing suddenly after seeming to ride out the health crisis that had propelled him to death’s door with bilateral pneumonia. Announcing his passing, the Vatican said Francis had been woken by his alarm at 6am (local time) but fell ill at 7.30am and died shortly afterwards.
He will be buried not at the Vatican but at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, a favourite place of his.
His sudden death came soon after the globe’s 1.4 billion Catholics took heart from Francis’s participation in the church’s most sacred period of prayer and celebration.
The Vatican Camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Ferrell of Ireland, whose role is to verify the death of a pope, said in a statement: “At 7.35 this morning (3.35pm AEST), the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalised.”
Looking frail and sounding breathless, his voice raspy, Francis had struggled when he emerged in a wheelchair on Easter Sunday to the delight of worshippers packing St Peter’s Square. Waving from the balcony of the basilica, he said haltingly: “Dear brothers and sisters, happy Easter.”
The Pope was then driven through the crowd, stopping to bless babies. He looked tired and ill, having been discharged from hospital only on March 23 after five weeks of touch-and-go treatment for the infection that had invaded both his lungs.
Argentinian-born Francis was the Catholic Church’s 266th pope, continuing a line of leaders reaching back to the Apostle Saint Peter more than 2000 years ago. He was elected as Bishop of Rome in 2013 after Benedict XVI of Germany stood aside due to ill health. He was the first South American to lead the church, the first to rise from the intellectual Jesuit order and the first non-European pope since Gregory III in the 8th century.
A polarising figure, he sought to appease both progressive and conservative factions of the church, without convincing either side of his conviction. His papacy was marked by tentative efforts to change entrenched positions on doctrinal questions such as clerical celibacy, same-sex marriage and the admission of women to the priesthood, from which he soon retreated, angering those for and against reform. But a common touch honed as a nightclub bouncer and janitor in Buenos Aires before he entered the priesthood endeared him to the Catholic faithful globally.
He toured relentlessly and there was a push last year to augment his historic visit to Papua New Guinea and East Timor with an Australian stop.
Sadly, his declining health precluded this.
Anthony Albanese, a mass-going Catholic, said in a statement that Francis was a “modernist” who had invited the world to emerge from “the dark night of wars and environmental devastation”.
“He urged us to remember all we hold in common, and he asked the world to hear the cry of the Earth, our common home,” the Prime Minister said in Melbourne.
“The first pope from the southern hemisphere was close to the people of Australia.”
Peter Dutton hailed Francis as a leader who was driven by mercy and forgiveness.
“His Holiness, Pope Francis, served God with the utmost devotion throughout his life. He was the first Pope from the Jesuit order and the first Latin American pope. He lived frugally and simply,” the Opposition Leader said. “Above all else, he was driven by Christ’s values of mercy and forgiveness. He emphasised those values in his last Christmas address saying, ‘God’s mercy can do all things. It unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division; God’s mercy dispels hatred and the spirit of revenge.’”
US Vice-President JD Vance, was the last world leader to meet Pope Francis for the first time, on Easter Sunday.
“I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis,” Mr Vance said on Monday.
“My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.
Francis’s death triggers the time-honoured conclave of 138 eligible cardinals who will meet in Rome to elect the new pope.
Only those aged under 80 can take part in the secret ballot in the Sistine Chapel, beneath the glorious Renaissance artwork of Michelangelo.
Up to four rounds of voting take place daily until a candidate receives a two-thirds majority – a process that typically takes two to three weeks.
Leading contenders include Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, first among equals in the College of Cardinals entrusted with the papal election.
He is considered a moderate doctrinally, and has been installed as favourite by Vatican watchers.
Cardinal Parolin’s election would be considered an extension of Francis’s legacy.
Marian Peter Erdo – referencing his devotion to St Mary, mother of Christ – is a conservative who opposes moves within the church to accept divorce.
The 72-year-old Hungarian says Catholics who end a marriage should not be able to receive Holy Communion.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of The Philippines would be the first Asian pope if elected.
He is seen as a progressive who had criticised the church’s attitude to and language on gay people, unwed mothers and divorced or remarried Catholics.
The 67-year-old said in 2015: “Many people who belonged to those groups were branded and that led to their isolation from the wider society.”
Conservative US cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, 70, who would be the first North American to lead the church, has argued Catholic politicians who support abortion such as former president Joe Biden should not receive the Eucharist.
There will be pressure on the papal conclave, due to convene within days in Rome, to ensure the new pontiff is vigorous and can physically withstand the rigours of leading the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics in an increasingly fraught time for organised religion.
Not since Polish-born John Paul II, who reigned from 1978 to 2005 and was only the second pontiff to visit Australia, in 1986, has the church had a leader unburdened, at least initially, by health concerns.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Francis was the first Latin American pope, as well as the first to rise from the Society of Jesus, the church’s intellectual Jesuit order.
Francis had trained as a chemist and had worked, famously, as a bouncer and janitor before joining the Jesuits in 1958 and entering the priesthood in 1969.
A humble man, he later admitted that, as a young seminarian, he had developed a crush on an attractive young woman and doubted whether he should continue with his religious vocation.
He was created cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
But Francis had part of a lung removed when he was 21 after developing pleurisy, leaving him vulnerable to chest complaints.
He was hospitalised on a number of occasions as Pope for respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis.
Prior to falling fatally ill this month, he extended the term of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re as dean of the College of Cardinals to ensure the 91-year-old Italian, who is too old to vote in the conclave, would run the papal election.
This sidestepped a scheduled ballot on the position of dean to lock in the process an ailing Francis wanted to elect his chosen successor, observers said.
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout