Pontiff passes away at 88
Pezeshkian: Pope Francis will remain in hearts of all awakened consciences and freedom-seekers
Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, passed away, the Vatican said on Monday.
He was 88, and had suffered a serious bout of double pneumonia this year, but his death came as a shock after he had been driven around St. Peter’s Square in an open-air popemobile to greet cheering crowds on Easter Sunday.
“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 (0535 GMT) this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”
A spokesman said his body might be moved to St. Peter’s Basilica as early as Wednesday morning to allow the faithful to pay their respects. No date has been set for the funeral.
Tributes for Francis poured in from around the world, with many leaders praising his humility and care for the poor.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian offered his condolences over the death of Pope Francis and praised his condemnation of “genocide” by Israel in Gaza.
“With sorrow, I offer my condolences on the passing of Pope Francis, the leader and spiritual guide of the world’s Catholics,” Pezeshkian said in a statement posted on his official website.
The president of Iran said the pontiff’s name and memory would remain “in the hearts of all awakened consciences and freedom-seekers” for his humanitarian stances, including the “condemnation of the genocide committed by the Israeli regime in Gaza.”
Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei also offered condolences to all Christians around the world.
Francis had on Sunday made his first prolonged public appearance since being discharged from hospital on March 23 after a 38-day 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 cease-fire in Gaza.
World leaders paid tribute to the pope, praised his efforts to reform the worldwide church and offered condolences to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, surprising many Church watchers who had seen the Argentine 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, emphasizing transparency, accountability and financial reform, and appointed more women to senior posts in its hierarchy. However, Francis 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.