After twelve years as the Pontiff and head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has passed away at the age of 88. The pope had nearly passed away weeks earlier but made what seemed to be a nearly miraculous recovery, and insisted on returning to work. The Holy Father made it through Easter before slipping away, relatively unexpectedly:
Standing somberly behind a microphone at the Vatican, Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced the pope’s death. “At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father,” he said. An American of Irish origin, Cardinal Farrell becomes the Vatican’s de facto administrator after the death of a pope.
Mourners, some in tears, quickly gathered St. Peter’s Square in Rome, where a day earlier Francis had blessed the faithful a day earlier for Easter.
“We saw him yesterday,” said Marco Volpi, 69….
