In a video message released on Monday, the Vatican announced the death of Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church. His reign was characterised by conflict and disagreement as he worked to reform the embattled organisation.
He had just recovered from a severe case of double pneumonia and was eighty-eight years old. On the Vatican’s television station, Cardinal Kevin Farrell said, “Dear brothers and sisters, I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis with great sadness.”
Francis, the Bishop of Rome, returned to the Father’s home this morning at 7:35. Many Church observers who had witnessed the Argentine clergyman, who was well-known for his care, were taken aback when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen pope on March 13, 2013.
He claimed he liked to live in a community environment for his “psychological health” and never used the elaborate papal rooms in the Apostolic Palace that his predecessors had occupied. He aimed to reflect simplicity into the big role. He was elected with the explicit goal of bringing order back to a Church that was being attacked over a child sex abuse crisis and riven by internal strife within the Vatican bureaucracy.
However, conservatives sharply criticised him as his pontificate went on, accusing him of destroying beloved customs. Additionally, he angered progressives who believed he ought to have done more to transform the 2,000-year-old Church.
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