The Vatican says Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke that put him into a coma and led to irreversible heart failure. The death was confirmed Monday by Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, the head of the Vatican’s health department. In a statement, he noted that Francis also suffered from episodes of respiratory insufficiency and had had bilateral pneumonia, as well as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Francis died Monday at 7:35 a.m.
In Pope Francis's short will and testament dated June 29, 2022, he decreed he would be buried in a simple underground tomb — with only “Franciscus” written on it — at St. Mary Major Basilica, home to Francis’ favorite icon of the Virgin Mary, to whom he was particularly devoted. Francis thanked those who prayed for him and asked for continued prayers. “The suffering that became present in the latter part of my life I offered it to the Lord for world peace and brotherhood among peoples,” he concluded.
Since the death of Pope Francis was announced this morning, leaders from around the world have offered condolences and remembrances, including Bishop David Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
"Pope Francis led the Church with extraordinary humility, compassion, and courage," Zubik said in a statement. "He reminded us that mercy is at the heart of the Gospel, and he consistently called us to encounter one another with tenderness and care — especially the poor, the suffering, and the forgotten. His voice echoed far beyond the walls of the Church, inviting people of all backgrounds to walk together in peace, justice, and love.
Zubik said that the times he saw Pope Francis in person during visits to the Vatican, he was struck by, "not just the dignity of the Pope's office, but the warmth of his heart. His attention to each person, his gentle spirit and his genuine kindness left a lasting impression."
Zubik called on the more than 600,000 members of the Pittsburgh Diocese to pray for the Pope's soul.
Speaking to reporters at his office Monday, Zubik added that although Pope Francis was the head of a global church, he treated everyone from politicians to prisoners as though he was their local pastor. Francis was known for his humility and deep concern for others.
“He really had a beautiful way of respecting every single individual. And he had a natural gift of making people feel they were very important,” Zubik said.
Francis was also known to be warm, quick to make jokes, and would sometimes break with past tradition and make his own phone calls, Zubik said. The pope sent Zubik two letters during his tenure, including one to commemorate Zubik’s 25th anniversary as a bishop. He said, “It’s that kind of personalism” for which Francis was known.
Zubik remembered the pope as someone who embodied empathy and sought to comfort the poorest and most marginalized.
“I think that, in so many ways, he was a beautiful living example of Jesus,” he said, “[E]specially when he might have seen that there was a disregard for any person, he would always speak up about that.”
In this midst of the Easter season, “I think it's a good time for us to come together [not only] as the family of the Catholic Church, but the wider family of who we are as believers in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” he said.
Gov. Josh Shapiro recalled meeting the pope in 2015 when he was in Philadelphia for the world meeting of families:
"We shared a few words, and he was very gracious with his time. And then the pope turned and walked up the steps into the seminary. No one asked me to leave, so I followed the pope into the seminary. And he walked over into a corner of the lobby, this beautiful, ornate lobby. And he started meeting quietly with a group. I didn't know who the people were he was meeting with. And it was hard to hear. So again, no one had asked me to leave. I just got closer and closer and close. And I realized — this is back in 2015 — that the pope was meeting with a group of survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of predator priests. He was expressing sympathy for what they had been through. And he was telling them that he would take steps in order to stop that type of abuse.
"That was incredibly powerful to me. Years later, when I would be the elected attorney general of Pennsylvania and leading the grand jury investigation into abuse within the Catholic Church and prosecuting predator priests, I recalled that meeting. And I actually wrote the pope a letter about that meeting. While he didn't respond in writing to me, the response that he gave internationally, for the first time a pope ever acknowledged the pain of these survivors in the wake of our grand jury report, drawing from clearly the care and concern he had during the meeting that day in 2015 in suburban Philadelphia.
"First time a Pope has ever acknowledged the pain and suffering of those brave survivors. It was extraordinary to me. On so many issues, this pope was a voice for the voiceless. And I honor the work that he did. We have a lot more work to do together, not just in the arena of government, but in our societies all across this globe. And I think the pope laid out a roadmap for all of us to be able to follow."
“Every servant of God has their gifts, and he certainly had a love for the poor and marginalized," said Mother Loraine Marie Maguire of the Little Sisters of the Poor. "He was who the Holy Spirit intended for us. He gave us an example of tenderness and mercy and showed us how to live even until the very end," Maguire said, recalling how Pope Francis spoke and was with people after Easter mass this weekend. She recalled one of Francis's favorite metaphors: “The shepherd needs to smell like the sheep.”
Christina Clark, president of Pittsburgh's La Roche University, wrote that Pope Francis exemplified the university's values of compassion, justice, peace, and inclusivity.
"Pope Francis exemplified these values through his humble leadership, his tireless advocacy for the poor and marginalized, and his call to care for creation as a sacred responsibility. He called on Catholic universities in particular ‘to be an expression of the love that inspires every activity of the Church, namely, God’s love for the human person,'" Clark wrote. She called special attention to the pope's second and third encyclicals Laudato Si’, which called for ecological conservation, and Fratelli Tutti, which called for social unity and cooperation globally.
“As we mourn the death of Pope Francis and pray for the repose of his soul, we respond to his bold leadership which calls us to welcome all — including those who are marginalized, poor, and oppressed — and to rise up in Christian solidarity with them," said Rev. Lawrence D. Adams, pastor of St. Mary Magdalene Parish, which includes churches in Point Breeze (St Bede), Homewood (Mother of Good Counsel), and Wilkinsburg (St James) and serves the people of the East End of Pittsburgh. The parish sponsors several ministries including a Catholic LGBTQ ministry. "His legacy of unbounded love to all in Christ is an inspiration to all peoples."
Theresa Antony, a junior theology and classics major at Franciscan University of Steubenville recalled listening to Pope Francis’ weekly papal audiences with her family.
“It felt as though my heart was on fire — as if I were on the road to Emmaus alongside the Holy Father,” she said. “I will always remember Pope Francis in my prayers as a dear and loving father, whose example has greatly shaped my understanding of the Christian call to love one another.”
Ronald Bolster, dean of Franciscan University's school of theology praised the late pope’s ability to reach out to many who had left the Church or tuned it out entirely in today’s modern world.
“Pope Francis loved his sheep like the Good Shepherd, and with his heart for those who may have strayed from the flock, he gave us access to an audience that has perhaps long stopped listening to the voice of Peter,” Bolster said.
The diocese will hold a mass to Pope Francis at 7 p.m. Monday night at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland.
