Pope Francis’ death mourned worldwide as Catholic Church prepares for next chapter

Vice President JD Vance met Pope Francis on Easter Sunday during a three-day family visit to Rome, his office said.

Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, also met with other church officials and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

“It was an honor to meet with Pope Francis, Prime Minister Meloni, and Church officials in Italy this weekend,” Vance said on social media overnight Monday. “Visiting Rome with my family during Holy Week was an incredible experience.”

Pope Francis died Monday at the age of 88, the Vatican said. He died almost a month after he was released from a Rome hospital where he was treated for five weeks for a respiratory infection that worsened into pneumonia.

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936, he was ordained as a priest in 1969, rising to become a Jesuit leader and Archbishop of Buenos Aires. He was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001.

When he was elected pope in 2013 — the first ever from the Americas — he chose to name himself after Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Italy, known for his simplicity and humanity. Pope Francis often said he wanted “a poorer Church” and one that would “include the excluded.”

He led by example, living in a humble room at the Vatican rather than the lavish papal apartments, and demonstrating his compassion by dining with the homeless, washing inmates’ feet, and providing a home in Italy for migrants and refugees.

The 88-year-old pontiff will leave a legacy as a relatively progressive pope. He sought to make the Catholic Church more inclusive, welcoming more women into leadership roles (though not the priesthood) and reaching out to LGBTQ people, famously saying, “Who am I to judge?” In doing so, he drew backlash not only from conservatives, but also liberals who argued he wasn’t going far enough or fast enough to reform the two-millennia-old institution. 

He also led the Church in its reckoning with years of child sexual abuse, though not always as aggressively as some critics hoped for.

In a 2024 interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell, Francis said the Church “must continue to do more. Unfortunately, the tragedy of the abuses is enormous. And against this, an upright conscience, and not only to not permit it but to put in place the conditions so that it does not happen.”