Pope Francis has died at the age of 88, the Vatican has announced.

 

What happens when the Pope dies?
A papal funeral has traditionally been an elaborate affair, but Pope Francis recently approved plans to make the whole procedure less complex.

Previous pontiffs were buried in three nested coffins made of cypress, lead and oak.

Pope Francis has opted for a simple wooden coffin lined with zinc.

He has also scrapped the tradition of placing the Pope's body on a raised platform - known as a catafalque - in St Peter's Basilica for public viewing.

Instead, mourners will be invited to pay their respects while his body remains inside the coffin, with the lid removed.

Francis will also be the first Pope in more than a Century to be buried outside the Vatican.

He will be laid to rest in the Basilica of St Mary Major, one of four major papal basilicas in Rome.

 

— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 21, 2025

 

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.

 

 

Adpated by ASEAN Now from Sky News  2025-04-21

 

 

RIP

Strange he was just out and about on his "pope mobile"  for Easter blessings.

As good as a pope can get.

A wonderful symbol of Christian compassion to all.

Also good that he didn't resign first.

Sad for him that his last public visit from a dignatory was from the very uncompassionate very bullying US VP.

The timing is certainly interesting.

 

RIP. Now you can have actual conversations with God himself.

 

 

My heart goes out to all the newscasters who will now have witter on for hours spewing out utter nonsense.

The Marxist Pope is dead.  Too bad, so sad. 

J D Vance was meeting him the other day , enough to make

anyone feel ill ...

 

regards Worgeordie

3 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

J D Vance was meeting him the other day , enough to make

anyone feel ill ...

 

regards Worgeordie

Awful taste. Grow up.

Pope John Paul 2. I was there one easter. Amazing city.

2 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Pope John Paul 2. I was there one easter. Amazing city.

 

   Pope John Paul 2 isn't a city though .

I expect that you mean Vatican City ?

I’d call that Devine timing Easter Sunday!rip your holiness rip 

Just now, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Pope John Paul 2 isn't a city though .

I expect that you mean Vatican City ?

Oh please

It is sad that I cannot post a 'sad' emoji.

RIP. 

 

Strange timing, I guess. Easter weekend.  

 

The first Jesuit Pope. I had a Jesuit education back when most of the teachers at the school were actually Jesuits in black robes. At the time, it didn't seem like much fun, but in retrospect, I got an education few people today will ever receive. The number of Jesuits has dwindled, and most of the teachers at Jesuit schools are lay teachers. 

 

There was no such thing as a study hall at my school. Every hour was filled with a class of some sort. Non-stop education. Latin was mandatory, plus one other language. Math in all four years, through Calculus II. Sciences: chemistry, physics, biology. Public speaking. Religion, English literature. History. It was non-stop work.  You weren't even allowed to talk in the hall between classes. 

 

By the time I got to college, it seemed like everything they were teaching I already knew.  Or a lot of it.   

 

 

1 minute ago, Tropicalevo said:

It is sad that I cannot post a 'sad' emoji.

That's what the heartbroken ones are for.

20 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

J D Vance was meeting him the other day , enough to make

anyone feel ill ...

 

regards Worgeordie

It was clear that the Pope was both very ill and also not thrilled about who his guest was.

Coincidence or not that meeting between good and evil will be a permanent footnote of history.

I wish he could have had an audience with a decent world leader in his last hours instead.

4 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

That's what the heartbroken ones are for.

Fine point, but I am not heartbroken - just sad.

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

It was clear that the Pope was both very ill and also not thrilled about who his guest was.

Coincidence or not that meeting between good and evil will be a permanent footnote of history.

I wish he could have had an audience with a decent world leader in his last hours.

What awful remarks. 

Well Catholics believe in a glorious afterlife for believers. Good luck with that.

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

It was clear that the Pope was both very ill and also not thrilled about who his guest was.

Coincidence or not that meeting between good and evil will be a permanent footnote of history.

I wish he could have had an audience with a decent world leader in his last hours instead.

 

   Show some respect .

You are politicising a death .

Using a death to score political points .

Should give it a rest when a death occurs 

He's not going to find out that there is no god.

But he got to live in a nice palace with beautiful paintings.

34 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

J D Vance was meeting him the other day , enough to make

anyone feel ill ...

 

regards Worgeordie

 

Maybe he didn't say thank you

 

30 minutes ago, Tug said:

I’d call that Devine timing Easter Sunday!rip your holiness rip 

Or Monday.

5 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

 

Maybe he didn't say thank you

 

Perfect.

I feel a ton of memes coming on.

8 minutes ago, BLMFem said:

I don't believe in coincidences. They should haul his sorry behind in for questioning.

 

   Are you saying that Vance killed the Pope ?

4 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Are you saying that Vance killed the Pope ?

Is your reading comprehension limited?

Some disrespectful troll posts and the replies have been removed.

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

As good as a pope can get.

A wonderful symbol of Christian compassion to all.

Also good that he didn't resign first.

Sad for him that his last public visit from a dignatory was from the very uncompassionate very bullying US VP.

The timing is certainly interesting.

 

But the meeting looked dignified.  Mayb the Pope told Vance how he felt.  A man of lifelong service and dignity has died. 

38 minutes ago, FlorC said:

But he got to live in a nice palace with beautiful paintings.

NO he did not live in a palace.

He lived in a guest house ;

Pope Francis declined to use the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, instead living in a suite in the Domus Sanctae Marthae from his election in 2013 to his death today.

 

PS; The Domus Sanctae Marthae (Latin for Saint Martha's House; Italian: Casa Santa Marta) is a building adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City