Pope Francis
Pope Francis, who sought to be a bridge maker as he led the Catholic Church in a time of deep polarization, died at 7:35 a.m. on Monday (April 21), at the age of 88, a day after surprising faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.
The pope had been recovering from double pneumonia, for which he was hospitalized in mid-February and released after five weeks. The aging pontiff was initially treated for bronchitis during his hospital stay, but his doctors later said that he had developed pneumonia and was in critical condition at the time. Part of Francis’ lung had been removed at 21 after a life-threatening pneumonia.
As he aged, he had suffered a number of ailments, from sciatica to cataracts to chronic knee pain, and visitors to the Vatican were accustomed to seeing the pope struggle to walk when not seated in a wheelchair.
Pope Francis succeeded Pope Benedict XVI as leader of the Catholic Church in 2013.
On May 8, Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Prevost, 69, is the first American to ascend to the papacy. Prevost has taken the name Leo XIV. He is the first pope to use that name in more than a century.
Read the full article: Pope Francis, Charismatic Reformer and Disruptor, Dies at 88
