Pope Francis dies at age 88

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said in a video statement on April 21, ending an often turbulent reign marked by division and tension as he sought to overhaul the institution.

He was 88, and had

suffered a serious bout of double pneumonia.

 But his death came as a shock as a day earlier, on Easter Sunday, he had been driven around St Peter’s Square in an open-air popemobile to greet cheering crowds.

“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican’s TV channel. “At 7.35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”

Cardinal Farrell will preside over a rite at 8pm on April 21 (2am Singapore time on April 22) when the Pope’s body will be placed in a casket.

A spokesman said his body might be moved to St Peter’s Basilica as early as the morning of April 23 to allow the faithful to pay their respects. No date has been set for the funeral.

Pope Francis had on April 20 made his first prolonged public appearance since being

discharged on March 23

after a 38-day hospital stay for pneumonia.

In an Easter Sunday message read aloud by an aide as the Pope looked on from the main balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, the pontiff had reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

At the Vatican, tourists and pilgrims visiting for Easter expressed their shock and grief.

“This is something that really hits you hard,” said Ms Emanuela Tinari from Rome. “He was a pope who brought so many people closer to the church. He was not appreciated by everyone. But he definitely was by ordinary people.”

Doctors had prescribed two months of rest when the Pope left hospital in March, but he appeared on a number of occasions, met Britain’s King Charles on April 9 and had a brief meeting on April 20

with visiting US Vice-President J.D. Vance.

“My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” Mr Vance said on X.

Other world leaders were reacting to the Pope’s death with praise for his efforts to reform the worldwide church and offering condolences to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Singapore’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam

described Pope Francis as a figure of “unwavering compassion, humility and dedication to humanity”

who inspired people in Singapore and around the world, while Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the Pope’s leadership and compassion have touched “countless lives, inspired hope, and strengthened efforts to build harmony across all faiths and bring people together”.

Pope Francis had paid a three-day visit to the Republic in September 2024, the first by a pontiff since the late Pope John Paul II’s five-hour stopover in 1986.

He

gave a state address,

where he commended Singapore’s inclusiveness, as well as efforts to support the vulnerable.

He also attended an inter-religious dialogue with the Republic’s youth,

met and blessed elderly residents at a Catholic welfare nursing home,

and delivered a homily at a papal mass.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni mourned the departure of “a great man, a great shepherd”.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said: “He inspired millions, far beyond the Catholic Church, with his humility and love so pure for the less fortunate.”

Mr Jose Ramos-Horta, the President of Timor-Leste, where Pope Francis had visited in September 2024 as part of the longest foreign trip of his papacy, said the pontiff “leaves behind a profound legacy of humanity, of justice, of human fraternity”.

“Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him,” US President Donald Trump said in a brief message on social media.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope on March 13, 2013, surprising many Church watchers who had seen the Argentinian cleric, known for his concern for the poor, as an outsider.

He sought to project simplicity into the grand role and never took possession of the ornate papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, saying he preferred to live in a community setting for his “psychological health”.

He initiated changes within the Vatican, emphasising transparency, accountability and financial reform, and appointed more women to senior posts in its hierarchy.

However, he was also viewed as a haphazard leader, often blindsiding Vatican officials with his off-the-cuff comments.

He struggled to get a grip on the Church’s crisis over sexual abuse by clerics, and he inherited a Church torn by infighting in the Vatican bureaucracy, and was elected with a clear mandate to restore order.

But as his papacy progressed, he faced fierce criticism from conservatives, who accused him of trashing cherished traditions.

He also drew the ire of progressives, who felt he should have done much more to reshape the 2,000-year-old Church.

While he struggled with internal dissent, Pope Francis became a global superstar, drawing huge crowds on his many foreign travels as he tirelessly promoted interfaith dialogue and peace, taking the side of the marginalised, such as migrants.

Unique in modern times, there were two men wearing white in the Vatican for much of Pope Francis’ rule, with his predecessor Benedict opting to continue to live in the Holy See after his shock resignation in 2013 had opened the way for a new pontiff.

Pope Benedict, a hero of the conservative cause,

died in December 2022,

finally leaving Pope Francis alone on the papal stage.

Pope Francis appointed nearly 80 per cent of the cardinal electors who will choose the next pope, increasing the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies, despite the strong pushback from traditionalists. REUTERS