Pope Francis has died at the age of 88, the Vatican announced.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced the Pope's death in a statement released by the Vatican during the early hours of Monday.
“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father,” the Cardinal said.
“He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and the marginalized,” he added.
Francis’ body will be put on display in an open coffin in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, one of Christianity’s holiest sites, where pontiffs have been buried for more than 100 years. But in accordance with Francis’ wishes, he is expected to be buried at the ancient Basilica of St. Mary Major, which lies outside the Vatican walls.
His successor will be chosen during a conclave, a gathering of cardinals who are charged with electing a new pope in strict seclusion at the Vatican.
Toward the end of his life, Francis battled a host of health issues that left him weakened and often forced to rely on a wheelchair or canes. Most recently, he struggled with diverticulitis, pneumonia and bronchitis, and at times needed his aides to read his speeches because he was out of breath.
The son of Italian emigrants to Argentina, Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires on Dec. 17, 1936.
As a young man, Bergoglio worked as a bouncer and a janitor, and trained as a chemist and a food technician before being ordained a Jesuit priest in 1969.
He rose through the ranks in Argentina and in 1998 was appointed head of the archdiocese. In 2001, Pope John Paul II named him to the Sacred College of Cardinals, which elects new popes.
In 2013, Francis succeeded retired Pope Benedict XVI as the 266th pontiff, becoming the first Jesuit and non-European to hold the church’s highest office in more than 1,000 years, leading more than 1 billion Catholics around the globe.
Francis took the reins of a church tarnished by the clerical sex abuse crisis and financial scandals, and reeling from the abrupt resignation of Benedict, the first pontiff to step down in 700 years.
May his soul rest in peace!
