Pope Francis Dies

He was 88 years old.

The Vatican reports the death of Pope Francis. The head of the Catholic Church was 88 years old.

Francis was the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He had been in office as Pope for 12 years.

On 14 February, the pontiff was hospitalised with bronchitis, which worsened amid a relapse. The Vatican later said that after treatment the pontiff would have to re-learn to speak.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in 1936 in Buenos Aires. His father, Italian immigrant Mario Jose Bergoglio, was a railway accountant and his mother Regina Maria Sivori was ‘a devoted wife who devoted herself to the upbringing of their five children,’ says the Holy See website.

Bergoglio received a degree in chemical engineering, but then chose the spiritual path, entering the seminary of Villa Devoto in the capital of Argentina. In 1958, he entered the Jesuit order after recovering from life-threatening pneumonia - the young man then had part of his lung removed.

He had a doctorate in theology. He taught literature, philosophy and theology at several Catholic colleges in his native Buenos Aires. He was fluent not only in Spanish, but also in Italian and German. While already being a pontiff, Francis admitted that in his youth he worked as a bouncer in a nightclub in Argentina, as well as a caretaker and conducted experiments in a chemical laboratory.

Bergoglio has always been characterised by his modesty and commitment to the ideals of service. As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he regularly performed the ritual of washing feet on Holy Thursday in prisons, hospitals, nursing homes and slums. On the first Holy Thursday after his election as Pope, Francis also washed and kissed the feet of 10 male juvenile offenders and two female juvenile offenders (not all of whom were Catholic) at Rome's Casal del Marmo detention centre. He preached political reconciliation. He was leading the Argentine church when riots broke out in the country in December 2001. Nestor and Cristina Kirchner considered him a political rival.

After the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005, Bergoglio was summoned to the Vatican to attend the papal conclave as cardinal-elect. Even then, the Argentine was considered as papabile (a cardinal who has a good chance of becoming the new pontiff), but lost the election. Following the conclave, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who took the name Benedict XVI, became the new head of the Holy See. However, in 2013, the ‘German’ pope abdicated for health reasons.

In 2013, a new conclave was convened, at which Bergoglio was elected pontiff at the age of 76. For the first time in history, he took the name Francis - in honour of one of the most prominent Catholic saints, Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order. Until then, it had been a taboo for popes, like Jesus or Peter. It is believed that with this choice the head of the Holy See signifies his spiritual example. This name is a symbol of poverty and humility not only for the pontiff, but also for the church itself. At the same time, Francis did not use the numbering of his name, so that in the future one of the Popes could become ‘Francis the First’ if he wishes.

Francis saw his mission as saving the Roman Catholic Church, which was in crisis. He is considered a proponent of the reformist movement. ‘I have the impression that Jesus was imprisoned inside the church. And he is knocking on the door because he wants to come out,’ Cardinal Bergoglio said shortly before his election. Marco Politi, a German-Italian journalist, Vatican insider and biographer of pontiffs, admitted in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine that Francis had to overcome the resistance of ‘intra-church opposition.’

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