Pope Francis dies on Easter Monday at 88, Vatican announces
Pope Francis died April 21 at the age of 88, the Vatican announced. He gave new energy to millions of Catholics — and caused concern for some — as he transformed the image of the papacy into a pastoral ministry based on personal encounters and strong convictions about mission, poverty, immigration and dialogue.
U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, announced that Pope Francis had died at 7:35 a.m.
“His whole life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and his church,” Cardinal Farrell said in a video announcement broadcast from the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis lived and where he was recovering from pneumonia and respiratory infections. He had been released from Rome’s Gemelli hospital March 23 after more than five weeks of treatment.