One year ago today: The pope from the peripheries died on Easter Monday
Elected March 13, 2013, Pope Francis was the first pope in history to come from the Southern Hemisphere, the first non-European to be elected in almost 1,300 years and the first Jesuit to serve as successor to St. Peter.
Pope Francis greets the crowd as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 11, 2013. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- One year ago today, Pope Francis died at 7:35 a.m., April 21, 2025.
It came the day after Easter, when -- barely able to raise his hands -- he gave his blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world). Looking drawn and worn, the 88-year-old pope from Argentina took his final ride in the popemobile, spending about 15 minutes among the crowd.
But then, the next morning, which was a major holiday in Italy, church bells in Rome tolled the death knell after U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, announced that Pope Francis had died just a few hours ago.
"His whole life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and his church," Cardinal Farrell said in a video announcement broadcast from the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis lived.
The Wikimedia Foundation said that its "Deaths in 2025" entry, which included Pope Francis, was their second most-read entry during the year. And plenty of people took the occasion to learn more about his life too, adding that "His English Wikipedia article was the 11th most-read (page) of the year."
Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Pope Francis was an untiring voice for peace, urging an end to armed conflict, supporting dialogue and encouraging reconciliation.
He gave new energy to millions of Catholics -- and caused concern for some -- as he transformed the image of the papacy into a pastoral ministry based on personal encounters and strong convictions about poverty, mission and dialogue.
His simple lifestyle, which included his decision not to live in the Apostolic Palace and his choice of riding around Rome in a small Fiat or Ford instead of a Mercedes sedan, sent a message of austerity to Vatican officials and clergy throughout the church.
Although he repeatedly said he did not like to travel, he made 47 foreign trips, taking his message of Gospel joy to North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
He was elected after Pope Benedict XVI retired in 2013. Then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was already a known and respected figure within the College of Cardinals, so much so that no one disputed a respected Italian journal's report that he had received the second-highest number of votes on all four ballots cast in the 2005 conclave that had elected Pope Benedict.
Elected on March 13, 2013, Cardinal Bergoglio chose the name Francis to honor St. Francis of Assisi.
"Go out" was Pope Francis' constant plea to every Catholic, from curial cardinals to the people in the pews. More than once, he told people that while the Bible presents Jesus as knocking at the door of people's hearts to get in, today Jesus is knocking at the doors of parish churches trying to get out and among the people.
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Here are some of our favorite images:
Pope Francis leads a prayer as he appears for the first time on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 13, 2013. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
A girl holds a letter as she greets Pope Francis as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 11, 2013. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Pope Francis kisses a disabled man after spotting him in the crowd and having his popemobile stop as he rode through St. Peter's Square March 19, 2013, ahead of his inaugural Mass at the Vatican. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)
Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople embrace in Istanbul Nov. 29, 2014. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Pope Francis drinks mate, the traditional Argentine herbal tea, as he greets the crowd during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Nov. 22, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Francis touches the casket of Pope Benedict XVI at the conclusion of his funeral Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Jan. 5, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Francis greets U.S.-born Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, after the cardinal spoke on behalf of himself and 20 other new cardinals created during a consistory in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 30, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Francis greets a child from the popemobile after giving his Easter blessing to thousands of people in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 20, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Francis' zucchetto is blown off by the wind as he leaves his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican June 12, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Pope Francis releases a dove outside the Basilica of St. Nicholas after meeting with the leaders of Christian churches in Bari, Italy, July 7, 2018. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Pope Francis blesses a prisoner as he visits he Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia in this Sept. 27, 2015. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Pope Francis smiles at visitors while taking off his glasses at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 18, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Pope Francis kisses his pectoral cross as aides assist in vesting him before formally delivering "Spes Non Confundit," ("Hope Does Not Disappoint"), his document proclaiming the Holy Year 2025, during a ceremony in front of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican May 9, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
An aide hands Pope Francis his candle, lighted from the paschal candle, at the beginning of the Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 30, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Wind rustles the pages of the Book of the Gospels on top of the casket of Pope Francis during his funeral Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 26, 2025. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
Pope Francis dies
A look back at the papacy of Pope Francis.
