Just a day earlier, Pope Francis had thrilled the faithful by showing up on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after two brushes with death and blessing the crowd of worshipers below on Easter Sunday. “Viva il Papa,” they cheered.
But on Monday, standing somberly behind a microphone at the Vatican, Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced that the pope had died. “At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father,” he said.
For the faithful who began streaming into St. Peter’s Square in tears, Francis’ death at 88, was shocking, coming at the end of a brief period in which he had seemed determined to return to his pastoral duties. He had used his final days to emphasize the themes that defined his papacy, particularly the need to defend migrants and others on the margins of society.
“We feel a little lost, a little destabilized,” said Ilaria Toselli, 32, who was among the mourners in St Peter’s Square on Monday. “He was the pope of the last ones, of the poor, and he was loved by the faithful and the nonfaithful.”
Many of the people in the square held rosaries. Some stared at the empty balcony from which Francis had blessed the crowd on Easter Sunday. One was wrapped in the flag of Argentina, the pope’s homeland.
Many said they were particularly distraught because Francis’ style of leadership had made him seem particularly accessible. “He was one of us, one of the people,” Maria Teresa Volpi, 80, said. “He was everyone’s pope.”
Auriea Harvey, 53, an American convert to Catholicism who was baptized by Francis in 2023, said that she appreciated the pope’s criticism of the Trump administration’s deportation policy. “He stood up at a moment nobody seemed to speak up,” Ms. Harvey said.
World leaders also mourned the pope’s death, praising his commitment to the poor and marginalized.
It was only weeks ago that Francis had seemed unlikely to survive a severe case of pneumonia in both lungs. He was hospitalized for 38 days. Twice, his doctors said, they did not think he was going to make it.
When he was discharged late last month, doctors told him to stay away from families with small children to avoid infection and to remain essentially isolated in the Vatican residence. But Francis wanted to “return to normality,” said one of his biographers, Fabio Marchese Ragona. It was part of “his DNA to be with people,” he said.
Some in the Vatican believed that his doctors had sent him to die at home. His doctor had urged the pope to take it easy and not to waste a recovery that he said was no less than a miracle.
But his closest aides talked about a new chapter of his pontificate, even though it was clear from his public appearances that he remained weak and was struggling to breathe and to speak.
So the pope started making unexpected appearances that now look like farewell gestures.
He greeted the faithful who had gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday, and on Holy Thursday, he went to a nearby prison, where he met with about 70 inmates. He told them that he wanted “to be close to you; I pray for you and your families.” He was unable, however, to perform the traditional ritual of washing the feet of 12 inmates, as he had in the past.
After the visit, the Vatican released a photograph of Francis, blowing kisses to the inmates. Asked by reporters at the prison how he was doing, he said in a weak voice: “As best I can.”
On Saturday, his aides brought him into St. Peter’s Basilica in a wheelchair, stunning pilgrims and tourists alike. There he prayed in front of the main altar.
Then on Sunday, he held an unannounced meeting with Vice President JD Vance, who was baptized as a Catholic six years ago and was visiting Rome with his family. The Vatican said there was a “brief” exchange of Easter wishes that lasted “a few minutes.”
The meeting came after Francis had sharply criticized President Trump over his administration’s immigration policy, denouncing the deportation of people fleeing hardship as a violation of the “dignity of many men and women, and of entire families.”
On Monday, President Trump told reporters at the annual White House Easter egg roll that Francis “loved the world, and he especially loved people that were having a hard time — and that’s good with me.” But moments later, he railed against the “millions and millions” of migrants who have entered the United States.
After meeting with Mr. Vance on Sunday, Francis delighted worshipers in St. Peter’s Square when he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in a wheelchair and raised a hand in greeting. A roar erupted from the crowd.
“Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter,” the pope said, his voice weak and raspy.
His final address was read aloud by a Vatican aide and amplified many of the priorities of his papacy. It called for disarmament and lamented the “deplorable humanitarian situation” in Gaza and the plight of immigrants.
“How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants!” Francis wrote.
After his address, he went for a final ride through the jubilant throngs in St. Peter’s Square. Ignoring his doctor’s advice to avoid young children, he stopped to bless a newborn baby.
After his death on Monday, the Vatican said the causes were a stroke followed by a coma and “irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.”
A public viewing of the pope’s body may take place as early as Wednesday morning, the Vatican said in a statement. In the past, some deceased popes have been embalmed and placed on a pedestal, but Francis wanted his body to remain in a coffin.
The funeral and burial are supposed to take place four to six days after a pope’s death. Previous popes were buried in three nested coffins made of cypress, zinc and elm, but Francis said he wanted to be buried in one coffin, made of wood and lined in zinc. He also asked to be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he often prayed in front of an icon of the Virgin Mary.
Within 15 to 20 days, the dean of the College of Cardinals will summon the cardinals to Rome for a conclave to elect Francis’s successor.
Jason Horowitz is the Rome bureau chief for The Times, covering Italy, the Vatican, Greece and other parts of Southern Europe.
Elisabetta Povoledo is a Times reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.
Emma Bubola is a Times reporter based in Rome.
Michael Levenson covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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