Left image – Wikimedia Commons: Pope Francis Korea Haemi Castle 19
Pope Francis died at the age of 88 on Easter Monday having just blessed babies as his last public act in St Peter’s Square.
Hours before his death on 21 April 2025, Pope Francis blessed four small babies as he was driven around St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday. It was his longest public engagement since he left hospital after suffering from double pneumonia.
Earlier that day, the Roman Catholic pontiff had appeared on the famous Vatican balcony to wish the crowd “Happy Easter”. He also met briefly with US Vice President JD Vance, who was visiting Rome with his family.
The Catholic Church has now entered a nine-day mourning period, and Pope Francis’ funeral will take place on Saturday morning.
During his five-week stay in hospital earlier this year, Pope Francis issued a letter calling on the world to “advance the social protection of motherhood and the acceptance of human life in all its stages…
“A just society is not built by eliminating unwanted unborn children, elderly people who are no longer self-sufficient, or terminally ill patients.”
His first homily of 2025 also called on the world to “respect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death”.
Pope Francis was a consistent critic of what he called “throwaway culture”, including abortion, and he slammed abortionists as “hitmen”.
In February, the Vatican hosted a summit on the rights of children. The event was attended by international figures that included Holocaust survivor Edith Bruck, former Vice President Al Gore, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan.
“Abortion suppresses the life of children and cuts off the source of hope for the whole of society”, Pope Francis said in his address to delegates inside the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.
He again condemned the “throwaway culture of waste and profit, in which everything is bought and sold without respect or care for life, especially when that life is small and defenceless…
“In the name of this throwaway mentality, in which the human being becomes all-powerful, unborn life is sacrificed through the murderous practice of abortion.”
Following the death of Pope Francis, a papal conclave will convene in May in which the College of Cardinals will elect a new pope who must receive a two-thirds majority. White smoke released through the chimney is the customary signal that a pontiff has been chosen.
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