Pope Francis, born December 17, 1936, passed away at the age of 88 on April 21, 2025. Pope Francis’s death was caused by a cerebral stroke, followed by a coma and cardiac arrest. His death was announced on X the day in which he passed.
Remembering Pope Francis
Francis was head of the Catholic church for 12 years before passing. At 76 years old, he was the first pope from Latin America, being born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. One of the few non-European bishops of Rome. He was also the first Jesuit to be elected as pope.
Francis had made many accomplishments over the past 12 years within the Catholic church. One example being that he is the first pope to show acceptance towards the LGBTQ+ community.
“If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge him?” Francis said to a reporter in 2013.
Since then he has shown support for both homosexual and transgender individuals.
“We have to find a way to help that father or that mother to stand by their LGBTQ+ son or daughter,” Francis said in an interview with La Nacion in 2014.
He has also spoken up against sexual abuse within the Catholic church. Originally, Francis had defended a Chilean bishop, Juan Barros, a known abuser. He dismissed the allegations against Juan as slander. Later on, the pope made an apology and commissioned an investigation on the situation.
“I was part of the problem,” Francis said, apologizing to victims of the abuse.
Francis later ordered every bishop in Chile to offer their resignation.
Welcoming the New Pope
While the death of the late pope is still being mourned, the first ever American pope, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, was elected. The new pope was elected after two days of the papal conclave. Making it one of the shortest conclaves to happen in the most recent decades.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was born September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois. While the newly elected pope is of American nationality, Prevost had dedicated nearly 40 years of his time in Chiclayo, Peru on missions as a priest. Following his missions, Prevost was created a cardinal by the late Pope Francis and assigned the title of Santa Monica degli Agostiniani.
Following the election, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has now taken the title of Pope Leo XIV. The Mass for the Inauguration of the Petrine Ministry will be held in St. Peter’s Square on May 18 to officially announce the start of his leadership in the Catholic Church’s apostolic continuity.
