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One year ago today, on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, Pope Francis died at Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City. He was 88 years old. The cause of death was cerebral stroke and cardiovascular collapse — a quiet end to a thunderous 13-year papacy that reshaped the Catholic Church from the inside out.Today, the Basilica of Saint Mary Major — where Francis chose to be buried, in a simple tomb befitting the pope who called himself a "sinner" — holds commemorative ceremonies in his honor. At 5:00 PM Rome time, the Holy Rosary is recited. At 6:00 PM, a solemn Mass is celebrated, broadcast live on Vatican Media. A commemorative plaque is unveiled. Pope Leo XIV, currently on an Apostolic Journey in Africa, sends a message to be read aloud.
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Today's ceremonies at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major mark the first anniversary of Pope Francis's death. Live Mass airs at 6:00 PM Rome time on Vatican Media and Tele Pace.
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## The Man Who Changed the Papacy
Francisco José Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires in 1936. On March 13, 2013, he walked onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as the 266th pope — the first Jesuit, the first from the Americas, the first to take the name Francis, after Saint Francis of Assisi, patron of the poor.
From his first words — "Buona sera" (Good evening), delivered with a humble shrug — he signaled something different was coming. He refused the papal palace. He wore plain white. He washed the feet of prisoners, refugees, and Muslim women. He called a corrupt Vatican "a self-referential Church" and demanded it serve the margins.
Over 13 years, he visited 60 countries, canonized hundreds of saints, and launched the Synod on Synodality — a radical experiment in giving ordinary Catholics a voice in Church governance. He acknowledged the Church's history of clerical abuse with unprecedented directness. He opened doors to LGBTQ+ Catholics that his predecessors had kept firmly closed, permitting blessings for same-sex couples in the landmark 2023 declaration *Fiducia Supplicans*.
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- Papacy: March 13, 2013 – April 21, 2025 (13 years, 39 days)
- Age at death: 88
- Countries visited: 60+
- First Jesuit pope in history
- First pope from the Americas
- Buried at Basilica of Saint Mary Major — his personal request
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His critics called him a liberal disruptor; his supporters called him the Holy Spirit's instrument. The truth is harder to pin down.
Francis did not change doctrine — the Church's formal teaching on abortion, contraception, or same-sex marriage did not shift. What shifted was tone, posture, and emphasis. He redirected the institution toward poverty, ecology (the encyclical *Laudato Si'* became the most influential Vatican document on climate in history), and a theology of mercy over judgment.
For full coverage, visit https://www.linos.ai/politics/pope-francis-one-year-anniversary-2026/
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