Pope Francis has died aged 88. At 7.35 a.m., the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had ‘returned to the house of the Father’ at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. Cardinal Farrell, who announced the death, added that Francis ‘taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalised’.
Tributes are already pouring in from political and religious leaders around the world. These are the messages that have been sent so far:
J.D. Vance, the US Vice-president
Vance, the last statesman to meet Francis, having been granted a brief audience with the pontiff yesterday morning, wrote:
I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.
I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of Covid. It was really quite beautiful.
May God rest his soul.
Francis was a prominent critic of Donald Trump’s White House and used yesterday’s traditional Urbi et Orbi address in St Peter’s Square to address ‘how much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalised, and migrants’.
King Charles
His Majesty The King has issued the following message:
My wife and I were most deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Francis. Our heavy hearts have been somewhat eased, however, to know that His Holiness was able to share an Easter Greeting with the Church and the world he served with such devotion throughout his life and ministry.
His Holiness will be remembered for his compassion, his concern for the unity of the Church and for his tireless commitment to the common causes of all people of faith, and to those of goodwill who work for the benefit of others. His belief that care for Creation is an existential expression of faith in God resounded with so many across the world. Through his work and care for both people and planet, he profoundly touched the lives of so many.
The Queen and I remember with particular affection our meetings with His Holiness over the years and we were greatly moved to have been able to visit him earlier in the month. We send our most heartfelt condolences and profound sympathy to the Church he served with such resolve and to the countless people around the world who, inspired by his life, will be mourning the devastating loss of this faithful follower of Jesus Christ.
Keir Starmer
I join millions around the world in grieving the death of His Holiness Pope Francis.
His leadership in a complex and challenging time for the world and the church was often courageous, yet always came from a place of deep humility.
Pope Francis was a pope for the poor, the downtrodden and the forgotten. He was close to the realities of human fragility, meeting Christians around the world facing war, famine, persecution and poverty. Yet he never lost the faith-fuelled hope of a better world. That hope was as the heart of his papacy. His determination to visibly live out his faith inspired people across the world to see afresh the church’s teachings of mercy and charity.
With his death, we are reminded once more of his call to care for one another across different faiths, backgrounds, nations and beliefs. My thoughts are with Catholics across the world, and the Roman Catholic church. May His Holiness Rest in Peace.
Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Opposition
Pope Francis spent his final Easter yesterday bearing witness to the faith he devoted his life to – a quiet presence at a time when the world needed humility, courage and conviction. His death on Easter Monday feels especially poignant. He reminded us that leadership isn’t about power, but about service. When I met him in 2022, he spoke warmly of the UK and the values we share. In a world that too often turns away from faith, he stood firm. May he rest in peace.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK
My sympathies go out to all in the Catholic Church following the death of Pope Francis. I met him and liked him very much.
Emmanuel Macron, the President of France
Writing on social media, Macron said:
From Buenos Aires to Rome, Pope Francis wanted the Church to bring joy and hope to the poorest.
That it unite people with each other and with nature. May this hope continually rise again beyond him.
To all Catholics, to the grieving world, my wife and I send our thoughts.
Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister
Across the Tiber in Rome, Giorgia Meloni wrote:
Pope Francis has returned to the house of the Father. This news saddens us deeply, because a great man and a great pastor have left us. I had the privilege of enjoying his friendship, his advice and his teachings, which never failed even in moments of trial and suffering. In the meditations of the Via Crucis, he reminded us of the power of the gift, which makes everything flourish again and is capable of reconciling what in the eyes of man is irreconcilable. And he asked the world, once again, for the courage to change direction, to follow a path that “does not destroy, but cultivates, repairs, protects”. We will walk in this direction, to seek the path of peace, pursue the common good and build a more just and equitable society. His teaching and his legacy will not be lost. We greet the Holy Father with hearts full of sadness, but we know that he is now in the peace of the Lord.
Friedrich Merz, the incoming Chancellor of Germany
The death of Pope Francis fills me with great sorrow. Francis will be remembered for his tireless commitment to the weakest in society, for justice and reconciliation. Humility and faith in God’s mercy guided him in this. With this, the first Latin American on the Holy See touched people worldwide and across denominational boundaries. My thoughts are in these hours with the faithful worldwide who have lost their Holy Father. May he rest in peace.
Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish Prime Minister
I mourn the passing of Pope Francis. His commitment to peace, social justice, and the most vulnerable leaves a profound legacy. Rest in peace.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Today, the world mourns the passing of Pope Francis. He inspired millions, far beyond the Catholic Church, with his humility and love so pure for the less fortunate.
My thoughts are with all who feel this profound loss. May they find solace in the idea that Pope Francis’s legacy will continue to guide us all towards a more just, peaceful and compassionate world.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols
A voice proclaiming the innate dignity of every human being, especially those who are poor or marginalised, is now silent.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell
“Let us walk together, work together, pray together.” These are the words Pope Francis said to me when we met in 2023. They sum up his vision for the church, both the Roman Catholic Church but also ecumenically. Francis’s whole life and ministry was centred on Jesus who comes among us not to be served, but to serve. We saw that compellingly in Francis’s service of the poor, his love of neighbour especially the displaced, migrant, the asylum seeker, his deep compassion for the well-being of the earth and his desire to lead and build the church in new ways. Francis showed us how to follow Jesus and encouraged us to go and do likewise.
His encyclicals, writings and teachings, were supported by his deeds and actions. In their humility and focus on those in the margins, those actions, his whole life, was instantly recognisable as those of one who followed Jesus.
Pope Francis was acutely aware of the divisions between our churches and how they stand in the way of seeing Jesus Christ more fully. I remember the powerful work the Pope did with the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland in promoting peacebuilding in South Sudan.
He was a listening Pope whose commitment to the principle and the process of synodality will be a permanent legacy to the Roman Catholic Church and to all of us.
I remember, in the brief times I spent with him, how this holy man of God was also very human. He was witty, lively, good to be with, and the warmth of his personality and interest in others shone out from him.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
Catholic theologian Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith joins Damian Thompson on the latest Holy Smoke podcast to discuss what Pope Francis’s legacy might be:
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