According to the Vatican, Pope Francis passed away after suffering a stroke and heart failure.

According to a statement released by the Vatican, Pope Francis passed away from a stroke and subsequent heart failure. The pope had asked to be laid to rest in a plain, unadorned tomb.

Millions of Catholics worldwide hold the 88-year-old pope in high regard. He passed away Monday at 7.35 a.m. at his Casa Santa Marta apartment. According to the Vatican, an ECG test verified his cause of death.

In addition to numerous bronchiectasis, arterial hypertension, and type 2 diabetes, Francis nearly died twice in February after being sent to the hospital with severe pneumonia.

Contrary to long-standing Vatican custom, the pope said in his will that he wanted to be buried at Santa Maria Maggiore church in Rome's Esquilino neighborhood. Before and after his international travels, he would pray in the basilica; his most recent visit was on April 12.

According to his will, Francis requested to be buried "in the ground, without particular ornamentation," but with his papal name, Franciscus, inscribed in Latin.

Popes are typically buried in the grottoes beneath St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City with great ceremony, but last year Francis, who is adored by many Catholics for his humility, made the rituals for papal funerals simpler.

"The cost of preparing the funeral will be met by a money supplied by a philanthropist, which I have planned to be transferred to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major," the late pope stated in his will, which was made public by the Vatican. I have instructed Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Liberian Basilica, on this matter.

On Monday evening, his remains were moved into a coffin in Casa Santa Marta's chapel. On Wednesday morning, the coffin will be brought to St. Peter's Basilica so that people can pay their respects.

The pope's burial must be held four to six days after his death, and cardinals will convene Tuesday morning to determine the date. Official mourning will last for nine days after the funeral.

On Monday evening, prayers for the pope were held in St. Peter's Square, which was packed with pilgrims and tourists.

On February 14, Francis, a young man with chronic lung illness who had had a portion of one lung removed, was taken to Gemelli Hospital in Rome after experiencing a respiratory crisis that progressed to double pneumonia. The longest hospital stay he had during his 12-year pontificate was 38 days.

After being released from the hospital on March 23, he made his final public appearance on Sunday, touring St. Peter's Square in the popemobile and greeting people briefly from the basilica's central balcony.

Manoeuvring within the Vatican over who will succeed Francis and become the 268th head of the Catholic church is sure to start amid the days and weeks of deep grief. Approximately 138 cardinals who are eligible to vote will participate in a secret, intricate election ceremony called a conclave, which will bring cardinals from all over the world to Rome.

Within twenty days following the pope's passing, the conclave must start deliberating.

Prior to Francis's passing, a number of possible candidates were suggested, including the progressive Italian cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Vatican secretary of state Pietro Parolin, and the Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.

King Charles said that Francis would be remembered for his compassion and unwavering dedication, and that he and the queen, who met the pope in Rome last week, had "sad hearts" upon hearing of his passing.

"Rest in Peace, Pope Francis!" was the social media post that President Trump made announcing his intention to attend Francis's funeral. God bless him and everyone who cared for him. Barack Obama described Francis as a "unique leader who made us want to be better people," while former President Joe Biden stated that he would be "regarded as one of the most significant leaders of our time."

"I had the honor of sharing his friendship, his advise, and his teachings, which never faltered even in situations of trial and suffering," stated Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

With conservatives attempting to steal control of the church away from reformers, the pontiff's passing is expected to deepen rifts within the curia.

Francis, the first Jesuit pontiff, was an outspoken supporter of the world's poor, destitute, and disadvantaged during his 12-year pontificate. He was also a frank critic of corporate greed and social and economic inequalities. He criticized privilege and opulence within the Vatican and urged church officials to be humble.

His opinions infuriated many cardinals and other Vatican officials, who frequently tried to thwart Francis's attempts to modernize the church's antiquated structures. However, millions of people all across the world were won over by his humanity and compassion.

Francis was elected pope in March 2013 and was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936. By choosing to take the bus instead of the papal automobile to his hotel, where he paid his bill before relocating to the Vatican guesthouse instead of the lavish papal residences, he instantly demonstrated his style of papacy. He stated his desire for a "poor church and a church for the poor" at his first media appearance.

He called unrestrained capitalism the "dung of the devil" and directed papal attention toward poverty and injustice. In a 180-page environmental encyclical published two years into his pontificate, Pope called on the wealthiest countries in the world to repay the poor for their "severe social debt." According to the pope, "one of the primary difficulties facing humanity in our day" is the climate issue.

He said that refugees should not be viewed as "pawns on the chessboard of mankind" and urged kindness and sympathy for them. Twelve Syrians were given asylum at the Vatican after Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos. He continued making his nightly phone calls to the Holy Family church in Gaza, which he had been doing since October 9, 2023, during his most recent hospital stay.

Clerical sexual abuse and the church's cover-up of crimes by priests and bishops were two of the most significant topics Francis had to deal with. Francis was accused by survivors and others of not realizing the scope of the situation and the pressing need to proactively uncover abuse and its cover-up during the first few years of his pontificate, when the church was mired in scandal after scandal.

In order to address the epidemic, Francis called bishops from all over the world to Rome in 2019. He then issued an edict mandating that priests and nuns notify church authorities of sexual abuse and its cover-up, while also providing protection for those who come forward with information. Compared to his predecessors, it was a major step toward the church accepting responsibility for the scandals.

Francis had to respond to numerous acts of terrorism and persecution while serving as the leader of the Catholic church. He made a point of emphasizing that acts of terrorism should not be confused with Islam and that violence has no place in the authentic practice of religion. Following the 2016 murder of a Catholic priest in France, he stated, "I do not think it is appropriate to associate Islam with violence." "I believe that there is always a small fundamentalist minority in almost every faith," he remarked, adding, "and we [Catholics] have them."

While upholding traditional Catholic teaching on marriage, abortion, and contraception, Francis spoke compassionately about sexuality (famously asking, "Who am I to judge?" in response to a query regarding gay priests), the family, and the place of women in society. Francis was difficult to categorize as either liberal or conservative, despite the fact that many left-wingers attempted to claim him as one of their own.

Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, waited for hours to catch a glimpse of the small, white-robed figure in his open-sided popemobile during Francis's numerous international visits, where he was treated like a rock hero. Young people were especially drawn to him, and he regularly exhorted them to shun materialism and an excessive reliance on technology. In April 2016, Francis addressed Catholic youth, saying, "Happiness … is not an app that you can download on your phones."