Pope Francis, who served because the leader of the Catholic Church since 2013, has died on the age of 88.
“Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, on the age of 88 at his residence within the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta,” the Vatican announced via social media on Monday, April 21.
“Dear brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I need to announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” an announcement from Cardinal Kevin Farrell said.
“At 7:35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His whole life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalized,” Farrell continued.
“With immense gratitude for his example as a real disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the Triune God,” Farrell concluded.
The pope’s death got here just hours after he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, April 20, to wish the gathered crowd a pleased Easter.
Pope Francis. Buda Mendes/Getty Images
The Holy Father was first hospitalized on February 14 when he was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital for bronchitis. He later began receiving look after double pneumonia, meaning pneumonia in each of his lungs.
While doctors revealed that Francis was doing higher, his condition suffered a “sudden worsening” on February 28 after “an isolated crisis of bronchospasm.”
A bronchospasm is when the muscles within the bronchi — the airways that connect the lungs to the windpipe — tighten and cause airways to narrow, limiting the intake of oxygen, the Cleveland Clinic explained.
For nearly 12 years, Francis served as the pinnacle of the Catholic Church. While he called Vatican City home, the religious leader made it a priority to exit to the peripheries of the world during his years of service.
In 2015, Francis made a visit to america and traveled from Washington, D.C. to Latest York City to Philadelphia. On the time, many celebrities expressed their positive feelings about him.
“This pope is inspiring for me as an American, as a girl, as a Catholic,” Maria Shriver told People after covering his visits for the Today show. “It was really very moving to be here.”
Other famous Catholics including Mark Wahlberg, Mario Lopez, Sunny Hostin and Jim Gaffigan have spoken out about their appreciation for Francis.
“I assume you might say the Pope is sort of a Catholic superhero,” Gaffigan, 58, said on CBS Sunday Morning in September 2015 before performing comedy in front of the Holy Father. “You’ve got the cape, the hat, heck his automobile is even called the Pope-mobile. It’s so nice to listen to a world leader say, ‘Who am I to guage?’”
Celebrities who don’t discover as Catholic also expressed their support of a pacesetter who spent much of his position specializing in the poor and reminding people who all are welcome in church.
In June 2024, Whoopi Goldberg — who famously brought Francis paraphernalia from her 1992 movie Sister Act — joined nearly 100 comedians from all over the world to go to the Holy Father in Vatican City.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images; Vatican Pool/Getty Images Whoopi Goldberg is pulling out all of the stops for Sister Act 3, even offering Pope Francis a cameo opportunity. During her Wednesday, May 8, appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Goldberg, 68, opened up about meeting the pope, 87, on the Vatican in 2023. “I went to […]
“The pope decided that he desired to tell us that what we did as humorists and comics was form of necessary and wonderful,” she said on The View when recalling her trip with Chris Rock, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien and other stars. “It had less to do with our religious affiliations than it needed to do with him giving us a message that we matter as humorists, which was moving and wonderful to listen to.”
In a separate segment on The View, Goldberg, 69, reiterated how impressed she was by Francis.
“He’s a human being because it seems, which is what I actually like, and he’s doing his best to be a human for everyone,” she said. “He knows that we’re all flawed. He’s flawed, I’m flawed, you’re flawed. But he’s, like, ‘Listen. We will bring the perfect we are able to, bring the perfect of us.’”
