Pope Francis’s Final Words: Pneumonia-Stricken 88-Year-Old Pontiff Makes One Last Act of Devotion

Pope Francis wished a ‘Happy Easter to everyone’ in his final poignant act of devotion that saw him heavily supported by his aides.

Francis, who died today aged 88, delighted the crowd of 35,000 faithful at the Vatican on Easter Sunday with an appearance on the balcony at Saint Peter’s Basilica.

But the pontiff, appearing weary and fatigued, needed help from his aides while he sat on the balcony and watched as Archbishop Diego Ravelli read his Easter blessing to the large crowd.

Aides were seen adjusting his papal robes and helping Francis drink water through a straw as the blessing was delivered. 

He didn’t celebrate the Easter Mass in the piazza yesterday and instead delegated it to Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the retired archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica. 

Francis left hospital under ‘protected discharge’ on March 23 after suffering an infection that developed into pneumonia in both lungs earlier this year.

Just 20 hours before the Vatican announced his passing, Francis took to social media to commemorate the highest holiday in Catholicism.

‘Christ is risen! These words capture the entire meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death but for life,’ he tweeted, also sharing his full Urbi et Orbi blessing, which his aide had read aloud at at Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Francis’ final Easter sermon saw him call for an end to the ‘many conflicts raging in different parts of our world’ and pray that ‘in this Jubilee year, may Easter also be a fitting occasion for the liberation of prisoners of war and political prisoners!’

Francis, in his Easter blessing, made a direct appeal to ‘all those in positions of political responsibility’ to use ‘weapons of peace’ to stop ‘sowing seeds of death’.

He criticised the ‘great thirst for death, for killing, we witness each day’, violence directed at women and children, and the ‘contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalised, and migrants!’ 

‘On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God!’ the Pope said, adding: ‘I would like us to renew our hope that peace is possible!’

He specifically prayed for those impacted by conflicts around the world, including those in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, several communities in the Middle East and Africa, and more.

Francis spent his final hours with faithful, emerging to bless thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday and touring the piazza in the Popemobile to wild cheers and applause after being discharged from hospital only last month.  

The Pope had briefly met with US Vice President JD Vance for a ‘quick and private’ meeting at the Casa Santa Marta residence in Vatican City earlier on Sunday.

The Argentine pontiff, leader of the Catholic Church since March 2013, spent 38 days being treated for double pneumonia at Rome’s Gemelli hospital before leaving the facility under ‘protected discharge’ on March 23.

But he resolutely toured through the crowd of 35,000 believers on Sunday after giving the traditional Urbi et Orbi benediction and wishing Catholics a ‘Happy Easter’ and calling for an end to conflicts around the world.

Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo, announced that he had died at 7.35am local time (5.35am GMT) today.

‘Dearest brothers and sisters, it is with deep sorrow that I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,’ Farrell in the statement published by the Vatican.

‘This morning at 7:35 am (0535 GMT) the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His church.

‘With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite, merciful love of God, One and Tribune.’

Francis’s body will lie in state in St Peter’s Basilica during an official mourning period, and then – in contrast to most of his predecessors – he will be buried in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood.

The body will be laid in a coffin in the chapel at the Saint Martha residence where he lived at 8.00 pm local time on Monday, the Vatican said. 

‘Tonight, Monday April 21 at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), His Eminence the Most Reverend Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of certification of death and the laying of the body in the coffin,’ the Holy See said in a statement.

His death sets in motion centuries-old traditions that will culminate in the gathering of a conclave of cardinals in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican to choose a successor. The Conclave will not happen for at least 15 days.

In the meantime, the day-to-day running of the tiny Vatican City state will be handled by the camerlengo, a senior cardinal, currently Dublin-born Kevin Farrell.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said the news of Francis’ death ‘deeply saddens us, as we are saying goodbye to a great man and a great shepherd’.

‘I had the privilege of enjoying his friendship, his counsel and his teachings, which never failed me, not even in times of trial and suffering.’

‘The Pope and I had a more active relationship than was apparent,’ she told Italian state broadcaster RAI, in a broken voice. ‘It went well beyond our respective institutional roles.

‘We’ve met many times, even just to exchange opinions. He was able to give comfort in very difficult moments, I have many memories of the Pope.’

King Charles also shared a statement in tribute, saying Francis would be ‘remembered for his compassion, his concern for the unity of the Church and for his tireless commitment to the common causes of all people of faith, and to those of goodwill who work for the benefit of others’.

‘Through his work and care for both people and planet, he profoundly touched the lives of so many,’ the statement continued, adding: ‘The Queen and I remember with particular affection our meetings with His Holiness over the years and we were greatly moved to have been able to visit him earlier in the month.’

The White House published a pithy statement on X, saying: ‘Rest in Peace, Pope Francis.’

Just a day before, JD Vance had met with the Pontiff to exchange Easter greetings. The Pope offered the Vice President three large chocolate Easter eggs for his three young children, who did not attend.

The Pontiff had not given Vance an audience on Friday, officially out of caution over his health situation, Corriere reports.

French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country is largely Catholic, also shared his condolences in a post on X.

‘From Buenos Aires to Rome, Pope Francis wanted the Church to bring joy and hope to the poorest. For it to unite humans among themselves, and with nature. May this hope forever outlast him.’

The bells at Paris’s Notre-Dame cathedral rang out 88 times on Monday in honour of Francis who died aged 88. The ’88 rings for 88 years of life’ were to be followed by a full ringing of the cathedral’s bells before a noon mass in Francis’s honour, followed by another in early evening, according to the Notre-Dame press office.

Israel’s mostly ceremonial president offered condolences to Christians after the death of Pope Francis, calling him a man of ‘deep faith and boundless compassion.’

In a post on X, Isaac Herzog said the pope had fostered strong ties with Jews and advanced interfaith dialogue.

‘I truly hope that his prayers for peace in the Middle East and for the safe return of the hostages will soon be answered,’ he wrote, referring to the pope’s repeated calls for an end to the war and the release of captives held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Francis had repeatedly criticised Israel’s wartime conduct and said allegations of genocide, which Israel has adamantly denied, should be investigated.

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said Francis had been a ‘faithful friend’ of the Palestinians.

Francis, who was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, was the first Jesuit to lead the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics and the first from the Americas.

He took over after Benedict XVI became the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to step down – and cut a sharply different figure from the German theologian.

The football-loving former archbishop of Buenos Aires who was often happiest among his flock sought to forge a more open and compassionate church.

Francis strongly defended social justice, the rights of migrants and the environment, while also pushing through governance reforms and tackling the scourge of clerical sex abuse of children.

But critics accused him of creating doctrinal confusion and failing to defend traditional Catholic beliefs on key issues such as abortion and divorce.

Francis’s desire to chart a different path was evident right to the end, with his decision to be buried not in St Peter’s Basilica but in Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica.

He will become the first pope in more than 100 years to be laid to rest outside the Vatican.

Francis also rejected the tradition of popes having three coffins, instead choosing to buried in just one, made of wood and zinc, to reflect his role as a humble pastor.

Francis was first hospitalised on February 14. His treatment meant he had to cancel appearances, including his regular weekly prayer to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square.

His final illness came after he was hospitalised for three days in March 2023 with bronchitis.

In June that same year he had a three-hour operation to repair an abdominal hernia, and in 2021 he had colon surgery.

He also had to cancel his trip to the COP28 climate summit in Dubai in November 2023 because of the effects of inluenza and lung inflammation.

Francis suffered knee pain that required him to use a wheelchair and had fallen twice in recent months.

After the first, in December 2024, he appeared with a large bruise on his chin during a ceremony in St Peter’s Basilica to install 21 new Catholic cardinals.

In January this year, he fell and hurt his right arm, which had to be put into a sling.

Francis’s health was considered more fragile because of the fact that he had to have part of one of his lungs removed when he was 21 after developing pleurisy.

The Holy Father had left open the possibility of stepping down if he felt unable to do his job, following the example of Benedict, who quit citing his ailing health.

But he insisted for years that time had not yet come, and maintained a busy schedule, right up to hosting the prime minister of Slovakia shortly before his hospital admission.

Francis, who had part of his lung removed as a young man, was visibly breathless in the days before going to Rome’s Gemelli hospital, delegating aides to read his homilies at public audiences.

Even after he was released from hospital and ordered to rest for two months, Francis did not wait long before making public appearances.

When Francis took over as pontiff, the Catholic Church was mired in infighting and beset by a global scandal over clerical sex abuse of children and decades of cover-ups.

He promised an end to impunity and changed Vatican law to help tackle abuse, though victims said he could have gone further.

More widely, he initiated a major shake-up of the Vatican’s powerful governing body, including improving financial responsibility and allowing lay Catholics to lead Vatican offices.

Throughout his papacy, Francis championed the poor and vulnerable and emphasised love over doctrine.

‘If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?’ he said at the start of his papacy.

However, his detractors accused him of failing to uphold established Church doctrine, and his final months were marked by increasingly outspoken attacks by senior cardinals.

Tensions with conservative Catholics marked the Synod congress that met at the Vatican at the end of 2023, part of a years-long global consultation on the future of the church – that Francis now leaves unfinished.