Vatican City: Pope Francis, the first Latin American head of the Roman Catholic Church, has passed away at the age of 88 following a prolonged illness, the Vatican confirmed on Monday. He breathed his last at 7:35 AM (local time) on Easter Monday, just a day after his final public appearance greeting worshippers at St. Peter’s Basilica.
“With profound sadness, I announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell said in an emotional statement on Vatican TV. “His life was devoted entirely to the service of the Lord and His church.”
Elected in 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation, Francis led the Church for over a decade marked by reform, humility, and global outreach. In recent months, he had battled serious health issues including pneumonia and kidney complications, though he had shown signs of recovery.
In keeping with his wishes for simplicity, Pope Francis will become the first pontiff in over a century to be buried outside the Vatican—at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome. He also chose a single wooden and zinc coffin, foregoing the traditional three-coffin burial to reflect his lifelong commitment to humility.
His passing closes a transformative chapter in Vatican history.
