Pope Francis dead at 88, Vatican says

Pope Francis Bishop of Rome and supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church who worked to instill progressive influences on the global church while maintaining unity with conservatives amid years of turmoil died Monday morning Vatican camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell publicized He was years old Dearest brothers and sisters with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis At this morning the Bishop of Rome Francis returned to the house of the Father His entire life was dedicated to the organization of the Lord and His Church Farrell stated He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity courage and universal love especially in favor of the poorest and the bulk marginalized With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God The pope preached frequently on the Catholic virtues of mercy kindness and humility He did not shy away from conflict and American presidents including Donald Trump and Joe Biden were not immune from his views Less than a month into President Donald Trump s presidency the pontiff criticized the Republican s plans for the mass deportations of settlers stressing that the forceful removal of people totally for their immigration status deprives them of their inherent dignity and will end badly In a strongly worded letter to U S Catholic Bishops the pope appeared to counter remarks made by Vice President JD Vance -- who had in recent days converted to Catholicism -- after he suggested Americans should care for family communities and the country before caring about others Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups the pontiff wrote Worrying about personal locality or national identity apart from these consideration POPE FRANCIS EXPOSES CONFIDENTIAL DETAILS ABOUT HIS VOTING AND RELATIONSHIPS IN LENGTHY INTERVIEW Pope Francis in became the first pontiff to ever address a Joint Meeting of Congress where he spoke on a range of topics including immigration family the death penalty setting change extremism religious freedom and the refugee dilemma He joined American bishops and urged American leaders to abolish capital punishment and revealed Congress has a role to play in addressing global warming In he questioned then President Biden's conscience on abortion in an interview during which he described the commander-in-chief's religious identity and views on abortion as incoherent A month after conception the DNA of the fetus is already there and the organs are aligned There is human life the pontiff disclosed in the interview with Spanish-language outlet Univision He also weighed in on candidate Trump and Harris during the poll campaign where he bashed them both as saying Both are against life be it the one who kicks out asylum seekers or be it the one who kills babies he revealed according to the Associated Press Just weeks before President Trump s second inauguration he appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy to be the Archbishop of Washington McElroy had been critical of Trump s immigration policies during his first term as president Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in to Italian immigrant parents in Argentina Francis made history as the first pope from the Americas as well as the first Jesuit to hold the office He was elected pope in after the almost unprecedented retirement of his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI Bergolio s father Mario was an accountant for the railway industry and his mother Regina was a homemaker and caregiver for her five children POPE FRANCIS FUELS NEW SPECULATION ON FUTURE OF PONTIFICATE Throughout his early years the future pope worked a number of menial jobs He labored briefly in the stocking factory where his father was an accountant before moving on to other opportunities including jobs as a bar bouncer and janitor He eventually sought a career as a chemical technician receiving a diploma in chemistry from the secondary school Escuela T cnica Industrial N Hip lito Yrigoyen He also worked briefly in a food laboratory However his career in chemistry was short-lived He entered the priesthood at the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto in Argentina Francis was ordained a priest in and made his final profession with the Society of Jesus also known as the Jesuits in The same year he was appointed as a provincial for the order His appointment as provincial was concurrent with the Dirty War a period of intense state-led persecution of left-wing leaders and political dissidents Bergolio experienced constant threats to his own safety as he worked to hide or aid in the escape of regime targets including a great number of Catholic faithful During this time two Jesuit priests under his supervision were disappeared by the administration drugged and left barely alive in a field five months after their kidnapping Pope Francis has announced he was forced to negotiate with the regime for their release Bergolio would spend the next two decades bouncing from position to position at the direction of his superiors During this time he served as a professor of theology seminary instructor rector doctoral pupil and parish priest In Pope John Paul II appointed Bergolio as titular Bishop of Auca and as an auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires This was done at the request of Cardinal Antonio Quarracino Archbishop of Buenos Aires who consecrated him to the episcopacy Bergoglio proved vital to the nation s Catholic society and he was fast raised to the dignity of Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires serving alongside Quarracino and taking over the archdiocese entirely after his death the next year Bergoglio was given the crimson hat of a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in In after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI Bergoglio was elected to the papacy selecting the pontifical name Francis after St Francis of Assisi a choice that set the tone for the rest of his papacy POPE DERIDES BIDEN'S ABORTION VIEWS CATHOLIC SELF-IDENTITY AS 'INCOHERENCE'Pope Francis s teachings as a priest bishop cardinal and pope were deeply influenced by his Jesuit vocation viewing each person as a unique creation of God with whom they can have a personal relationship His ministry and leadership were committed to keeping doors open and making the church approachable to the populace It was not only American politics that he had strong opinions of He faced criticism for specific remarks he made against Israel s military operation in Gaza calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave very serious and shameful During that same speech he also condemned the advance of antisemitism throughout the world Reuters shared He also called for an end to the war in Ukraine and expressed concerns over atmosphere change In seemingly looking to strike a balance he formally allowed Catholic priests to give same-sex couples a blessing which was seen as being a radical shift in church protocol The Associated Press informed at the time Pope Francis is also remembered for living a life of intense simplicity denying himself a lavish papal apartment in the Vatican upon his ballot and opting instead for a two-room suite in the Domus Santa Marta a residence built by Pope John Paul II In contrast to his immediate predecessors Pope Francis eschewed ornate robes or luxurious clothing His outfit rarely consisted of more than a plain white cassock tied with a papal fascia Pope Francis even dressed down his Ring of the Fisherman a piece of gold jewelry worn by popes to signify their office by having it made with silver and only wearing it for ceremonies Francis s tenure continued the ongoing efforts to investigate decades of sexual abuse alleges against priests across the world including in the United States with Francis vowing transparency in Transparency is now being implemented at the highest level explained Archbishop Charles Scicluna the Archbishop of Malta and Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith after Francis gave legal administration access to documents about sexual abuse cases and abolished the pontifical secret of the cases POPE FRANCIS DEFROCKS NOTORIOUS BISHOP WHO CONFESSED TO ABUSING HIS NEPHEW He continued Benedict's work to root malicious clerics out of the Church hierarchy with the wrath of God appointing task forces and establishing victim aid groups Pope Francis proved a frustrating pope for a wide variety of conservatives liberals traditionalists and progressives His gentle at times vague and confusing language on key social issues such as sexuality and divorce frustrated conservatives hoping for a more aggressive champion of Catholic moral teaching In July a group of Catholic clergy and academics sent Pope Francis a Filial Correction document alleging seven serious theological mistakes made by the pontiff in populace statements The document s assertions proved controversial within the Catholic Church and the document was never explicitly addressed Conversely his refusal to back down from traditional church teachings on abortion gay marriage women s ordination and priestly celibacy frustrated progressives hoping for a more modern church Echoing his time as a prelate in Argentina Pope Francis was at times criticized from both sides of the aisle for his heavy hand enforcing Catholic unity on national and international levels Traditionalists voiced intense opposition to his apostolic letter Traditionis custodes which restricted the celebration of the traditional Latin mass in an attempt to squash increasingly separatist conservative movements within the Church He similarly has shut down discussion of a large number of social issues that progressives have sought to overhaul In Pope Francis stated a nun asking him to approve the ordination of women that if the Lord didn t want a sacramental ministry for women it can t go forward adding We are Catholics but if anyone wants to discovered another church they are free to do so The hyper-progressive leadership of the Catholic Church in Germany was a target of his ire after the country s clerical leaders attempted an upheaval of traditional teachings regarding gender and sexuality The Vatican issued a series of letters approved by Pope Francis accusing the German church of risking separation from the Catholic Communion The conflict with German bishops encapsulates his papacy s recurring themes of authority and unity best exemplified in a passage from his Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany POPE FRANCIS URGES CATHOLIC VOTERS TO 'CHOOSE THE LESSER EVIL' BETWEEN TRUMP AND HARRISIn the letter Pope Francis wrote The universal Church lives in and of the particular Churches just as the particular Churches live and flourish in and from the universal Church If they find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body they weaken rot and die Hence the need consistently to ensure that communion with the whole body of the Church is alive and effective Pope Francis visited dozens of countries including the United States and Cuba in and went as far afield as Papua New Guinea as well as visits to predominantly Muslim countries including Egypt Morocco and Jordan Pope Francis struggled with healthcare complications throughout his reign The pontiff dealt for a large number of years with sciatica a nerve condition that caused immense pain in his leg and at times hindered his ability to walk In Pope Francis was hospitalized for an intestinal surgery that removed inches of his colon In March Francis was again taken to the hospital after experiencing intense chest pain and difficulty breathing He was treated for a respiratory infection and published after antibiotic medication In June of the same year the pope was brought back for another abdominal surgery to repair an incisional hernia He was issued after making a full recovery He took a fall at his residence and suffered a contusion on his right arm in January In February he was once again hospitalized after a bout of bronchitis Following Pope Francis s death the Vatican has entered a time of sede vacante in English empty seat The Associated Press Reuters and Fox News' Annie Butterworth contributed to this account