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Pope Francis, beloved for his compassion and willingness to reform the scandal-ridden church, dies at 88.

Pope Francis, the first pontiff from Latin America, has passed away. His warm, humble, and straightforward manner galvanized the Roman Catholic Church and garnered widespread admiration from outsiders almost immediately following his surprise election to the throne of St. Peter in 2013.

The Vatican announced that the church's 266th leader, Francis, died Monday morning.

Francis’ death occurred the morning after he made a high-profile appearance, delivering the traditional Easter blessing from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after a brief meeting with U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance.

No cause of death was announced in a statement released by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo who will lead the church until a new pope is appointed. Francis had recently emerged from a lengthy hospital stay to treat pneumonia and a complex lung infection.

“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Farrell's statement, released by the Vatican, read. “At 7: 35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to serving the Lord and His Church.”

Many cherished Pope Francis for his public displays of compassion, commitment to social justice, and willingness to reform the scandal-ridden Vatican. He largely adhered to the church's conservative stance on social issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights but urged clerics not to be “obsessed with” those matters. His emphasis on God's love and his demand that the church go out and minister to the oppressed and needy impressed even those who disagreed with him.

In the years before his death, the pope faced several health challenges. His health began to deteriorate again on February 14, when he was admitted to Gemelli hospital for what was described as a respiratory infection. Within days, it developed into pneumonia in both lungs.

Francis’ 12-year papacy marked a stark change in style and tone from that of his predecessor, the late Benedict XVI, a shy scholar who wrote dense theological treatises and viewed the church as a holy institution besieged by an increasingly godless, relativistic society. Francis, in contrast, compared the church to a battlefield hospital caring for the spiritually wounded.

In July 2021, Francis underwent his first major surgery as pope to have half of his colon removed due to a severe narrowing of his large intestine. He spent 10 days in the hospital, during which he delivered his weekly prayer from a balcony and visited patients in the pediatric cancer ward. He was hospitalized again for several days in March 2023, this time for a pulmonary infection.

In June 2023, the pontiff underwent another operation under general anesthesia to remove scar tissue and repair a hernia in his abdominal wall, problems incurred from his previous colon surgery. By then, he had already started using a wheelchair and cane due to persistent knee pain, yet he still insisted on maintaining a busy travel schedule.

Public concern over Francis’ health resurfaced in November 2023, when he excused himself from reading prepared remarks at a meeting with European rabbis due to what the Vatican later described as “a bit of a cold.” A few hours later, however, he warmly mingled at a gathering of 7,000 children from 84 countries, fielding their questions, shaking hands, and autographing caps and a sports jersey.

Francis was clear-eyed about his health and its effect on his ability to carry out papal duties. In late 2022, he revealed that he had entrusted a prewritten resignation letter to a senior Vatican official soon after his election almost a decade earlier in case he ever became too incapacitated to serve.

May the Lord accept him with His rich mercies.