On Easter Monday, April 1, 2025, our late Pope Francis died due to a stroke and cardiac arrest. He died at the age of 88 at the Domus Sanctae Marthae in Vatican City, being the second pope to die in the 21st century.
Pope Francis served as Pope of the Catholic church for 12 years, but he had been an active member of the Catholic church since 1969 when he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Ramon Jose Castellano. Pope Francis was very dedicated to serving his people and to aiding people in poverty or minorities. He was especially focused on getting rid of poverty in South America and helping immigrants, being the son of two immigrants from Argentina.
When Pope Francis was chosen as Supreme Pontiff on March 13th 2013, he still continued to use his influence for good. He chose his name after Saint Francis of Assisi, who lived his life serving the poor. Pope Francis was known for his empathy for the poor, and made it his goal to spread awareness of poverty and give help to the poor through the church. He was also known for his thoughts on immigration. Pope Francis was the first ever Hispanic man to be chosen as Pope, and the first Pope to be born and raised outside of Europe since the 8th century. Because of this, he used his background to spread awareness about immigration. In one pontiff meeting in September 2015 Pope Francis stated, “Millions of people come to this land to pursue their dream of building a future with freedom. We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners because most of us were once foreigners”. Another motivation of Pope Francis was the inclusion of all people, including those who do not share the same religion as him. One example is Maundy Thursday, when Pope Francis washed the feet of a Muslim woman during the reenactment of Jesus and his Apostles. This marked the first time a woman and non-Christian was included in the ceremony by the Pope. He would often tour other countries, as well as countries that had never hosted visits from the Pope. He also used his power to enact reforms on the church, aiming to make it more inclusive.
After Pope Fracis’s death the cardinals were tasked with finding another Pope that could measure up to Pope Francis’s achievements. On May 8, 2025 the cardinals had made their choice of Robert Francis Prevost as the new Pope. Taking the name of Pope Leo XIV, the new Pope is planning to carry on the reforms of Pope Francis. Similar to Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV is the first Pope to be born and raised in North America.
Pope Francis was an amazing pope and an even better human being. He cared deeply about others, and used his influence as Pope to make changes within the Catholic church and the world. Pope Francis will be deeply missed, and his influence on both the Catholic Church and the world will not be forgotten.
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