Pope Francis pushed for a more inclusive and accepting church and was widely beloved among Catholics. photo by Khalil Hamra
On April 21st, 2025, Pope Francis died at the age of 88.
The pope is the head of the Catholic Church and the leader of over one billion Catholics. On Monday, April 21st, Pope Francis, the 266th pope, passed away after a stroke resulting in irreversible heart failure. Francis was known for being the first Latin American pope and the first Jesuit pope, as well as for his more progressive views. The Catholic world mourned his death, with tens of thousands traveling to Rome to attend his funeral on April 26.
Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio and was ordained as a priest in 1969. He later became a bishop and then archbishop, and was named a cardinal (the position directly under the pope in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church) in 2001. After the resignation of Pope Benedict, he was elected pope on March 13, 2013. This appointment came as a surprise, since Bergoglio had not been on the list of cardinals that were expected to become pope. Nevertheless, he was elected after two days and five rounds of voting, and chose Francis as his papal name after St. Francis of Assisi.
During his tenure as pope, Francis pushed for more liberal positions both within the church and in secular regions. He also instigated many church reforms, specifically in regards to taking action against the sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. Francis allowed priests to bless same-sex unions and spoke out against discrimination, and advocated for migrants and the poor. Francis also reached out to Catholics and members of other religions in areas that the church had not typically focused on, denounced wars across the globe, and encouraged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. These actions frequently angered the more conservative faction of the Catholic Church. However, he often annoyed liberal Catholics as well, who wanted him to go further with his positions, specifically in regard to the role of women in the church. Francis also appointed a number of cardinals, who, in addition to the cardinals appointed by previous popes, will choose his successor.
The conclave to elect the new pope began on May 7th. During a conclave, 133 cardinals vote for who they want to become pope, and the first person to get two-thirds of the vote (89 cardinals in this conclave) to vote for them will become pope. Cardinals are forbidden from having any contact with the outside world while the conclave is happening. The only qualifications for becoming pope are being male and being a Catholic, but cardinals very rarely elect anyone who is not a cardinal. They vote four times a day by writing the name of a candidate on a piece of paper, which is then read out loud and counted by the recorders.
After a round of voting where no candidate gets two-thirds of the vote, the ballots are burned with a chemical that produces black smoke which comes out of a chimney in the Sistine Chapel where the vote is taking place. This lets the public know that no pope has been elected yet. Once a candidate gets the necessary votes, the ballots are burned with a chemical that produces white smoke, conveying the message that a new pope has been elected. This process can take many rounds of voting, and conclaves in the past have lasted anywhere from a few days to nearly three years.
On May 8th, after three rounds of voting, white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney, signaling that a new pope had been elected. Soon after, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, where new popes traditionally first appear to the public. Prevost took the name of Pope Leo XIV, becoming the 267th pope and the first American to become pope in the history of the papacy. Many hope that he will continue Francis’s legacy of acceptance and compassion.
