The news of Pope Francis’ death has plunged 1.4 billion Catholic followers around the world into mourning.
Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the supreme religious leader of Christians, died on Monday at the age of 88. The Vatican confirmed this in a video statement. Pope Francis had struggled with several health problems during his 12-year tenure. In a statement published by the Vatican on its Telegram channel, Cardinal Kevin Farrell said, “At 7:35 am today (0535 GMT), Francis, the Bishop of Rome, returned to his father’s house.”
Expressed concern over anti-Semitism
Pope Francis advocated freedom of thought and tolerance in his last Easter address on Sunday. He wished Easter to a crowd of more than 35,000 people from the balcony of the basilica, but delegated the task of reading his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (“to the city and the world”) blessing to an aide. In his message, he said, “Peace is not possible without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others.” He described anti-Semitic sentiments as “worrisome” and called the situation in Gaza “dramatic and reprehensible”.
1.4 billion Catholic followers in mourning
The news of the death of Pope Francis has plunged 1.4 billion Catholic followers around the world into mourning. Under his leadership, the church had attracted global attention on issues such as social justice, environmental protection and poverty eradication. With his death, the process of electing a new Pope is likely to begin in the Vatican, but at present the whole world is immersed in the grief of the departure of its beloved religious leader.
