Pope Francis has died at the age of 88, the Vatican has announced.
He died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican has said.
“At 7:35 this morning (local time), the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church.”
The Pope’s death comes fewer than 24 hours after he made an appearance at the Vatican’s St Peter’s Square for Easter Sunday.
He came out in a wheelchair and waved from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to cheering crowds and said: “Dear brothers and sisters, happy Easter.”
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected to lead the Catholic Church in March 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI stood down.
Francis’s papacy heralded many firsts and while he never stopped introducing reforms to the Catholic Church, he remained popular among traditionalists.
He was the first Pope from the Americas or the southern hemisphere. Not since Syrian-born Gregory III died in 741 had there been a non-European Bishop of Rome.
He was also the first Jesuit to be elected to the throne of St Peter – Jesuits were historically looked on with suspicion by Rome.
Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, was the first Pope to retire voluntarily in almost 600 years and for almost a decade the Vatican Gardens hosted two popes.
As Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina, he was already in his seventies when he became Pope in 2013.
