A Shepherd’s Final Journey: Pope Francis Dies at 88, Leaving a Legacy of Mercy and Mission
(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 04.21.2025).- In the hours of the morning on April 21, the Catholic Church was shaken by the announcement that Pope Francis, the 266th Bishop of Rome, had died at 7:35 a.m. local time. The news was delivered by Cardinal Kevin Farrell: “With deep pain, I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. This morning, at 7:35, the Bishop of Rome returned to the house of the Father.”
Francis’ death marks the end of a papacy that was anything but ordinary. Elected in 2013 after the historic resignation of Benedict XVI, Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first to take the name Francis—signaling a pontificate centered on humility, simplicity, and radical care for the marginalized.
Over the course of more than a decade, Pope Francis redefined what papal leadership could look like in the 21st century. He stepped beyond Vatican walls with the urgency of a pastor who wanted to meet people where they were: washing the feet of prisoners, embracing refugees, denouncing the “globalization of indifference,” and reminding the world again and again that “reality is greater than ideas.”
He championed the poor, not just in speech but in action, calling the Church to become a “field hospital after battle.” His encyclicals—Laudato Si’ on the environment and Fratelli Tutti on social fraternity—resonated far beyond Catholic circles, weaving together moral theology, ecological urgency, and calls for political responsibility.
His was a papacy shaped not by grandeur but by gestures: the silent prayer at Lampedusa for drowned migrants; the image of him alone in a rain-slicked St. Peter’s Square during the pandemic, blessing a wounded world; the countless off-the-cuff encounters that brought dignity to the forgotten.
In Cardinal Farrell’s tribute, he recalled how Francis had “taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalized.” That, perhaps, is the heart of Francis’ legacy: a Gospel lived in action, stripped of pretense, filled with mercy.
Though his health had declined in recent years, and his appearances were less frequent, Francis remained intellectually vigorous and pastorally present to the end. He continued to speak of synodality, of the Church listening before speaking, and of a faith that walks with others, rather than judges from above.
May he rest in peace, and may the Church he loved find in his memory a renewed courage to live what he preached.
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