On April 21, 2025, Pope Francis passed away at the St. Martha House in Vatican City, at the age of 88 years old. He served as the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from March 13th 2013, to April 21st 2025.
Now succeeded by Pope Leo XIV, Pope Francis is an unforgettable Pope for the Vatican and the entirety of the Catholic Church. Being born in Buenos Aires, Argentina – Francis was the son of Italian immigrants.
At a young age, he felt called to the holy life in the Church and entered the Jesuit nativists in 1958. He became a priest in 1969 and served as the head of the Jesuit province of Argentina from the years 1973 to 1979 before being named the first Jesuit Pope in 2013. Francis exemplified things many people did not – everlasting mercy.
He proposed ‘15 simple acts of love’ which was an alternative to fasting from meat in the Lenten season. He also showed constant courage and leadership. One prominent example of this was when Pope Francis prayed for victims of sexual abuse by clergy, which was a very controversial and scandalous topic.
With this in mind though, he approached the situation carefully and calmly, amidst facing criticism for the halted punishment of these clergy. He constantly reformed the Church and wanted it to be the best it could possibly be. He pushed for the climate crisis to be seen in his encyclical, Laudatory si’, which stands for “Praise to Be You.”
He also is known for attempting to unify all human beings, religious or not. While no human who is made in the image and likeness of God is perfect, Pope Francis is an example of someone who truly valued God, and truly valued each and every person, Christian or not, which is how he should be remembered.
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