April 21, 2025 at 13:31 EDTDaily Item
Pope Francis has died at age 88. The Vatican said Francis suffered a stroke which led to a coma and his heart to fail, as he recovered from a five-week hospitalization for double pneumonia. History’s first Latin American pontiff charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated many conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change. The pope recently spent 38 days in a hospital for a respiratory crisis in the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy. He last appeared in public on Sunday with an Easter blessing and popemobile tour through a cheering crowd in St. Peter’s Square.
