Pope Francis passed away on Monday, April 21, 2025. Vatican News released a statement saying his cause of death was due to a stroke, followed by a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.
After serving as Pope for 12 years, on Saturday, April 26, 2025, Pope Francis was buried in his final resting place. According to his last will and testament, he wished to be buried at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, as it was the place in which he often prayed.
Many Catholics and non-Catholics around the world mourned the loss of the first Latin American pope. Many reflected upon his life and his lasting message.
In 2005, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a Cardinal member of the Conclave who was under consideration to be elected the new pope after Pope John Paul II. However, it was not yet his time, and Pope Benedict XVI was elected.
When Benedict resigned in 2013, the Conclave process began again. This time, Bergoglio was elected. He took the name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, a saint known for his dedication to the poor.
Pope Francis was a strong advocate against climate change, for immigration rights, and for amplifying the voices of those in poverty.
Assistant Vice President of Mission and Ministry, Father Arthur Purcaro, O.S.A., highlighted Pope Francis’ emphasis on listening.
“He was elected and says…We need to listen,” Purcaro said. “We need the church, which is like a field hospital. We need to look out for those who have been left out. We need to sit alongside them and listen to them, and that is the church of Latin America. It’s trying to see the world from the perspective of the poor.”
Assistant Professor of Systematic and Constructive Theology, Dr. Jaisy Joseph, has reflected upon the life and mission of Pope Francis. In doing so, she often has revisited a particular photograph from early in his papacy. She described that in this image, Pope Francis knelt before the leaders of South Sudan to beg for peace.
“This aspect of mercy, of really living out his own call,” Joseph said. “He is on his knees, and you can see in the background…one woman is in awe that someone would lower himself, and he’s really living out the law of the cross to beg for peace and mercy. He really lived what he preached, and I think that’s why his moral leadership expanded beyond the Catholic Church.”
Pope Francis’ leadership did transcend the Catholic Church. Junior communication major, Zoë Magee, experienced his funeral first-hand, as she finishes her spring semester abroad in Rome. She said although she is not Catholic, it was incredible to be present.
“I don’t think I’ll ever experience anything like it ever again,” Magee said. “I’m Christian. My one friend, she’s Jewish, and my other friend, she’s Muslim, and we still had gone to the funeral, and we still got a powerful message with it. Even though he’s a pope, and it’s all about Catholicism and everything, the idea still stays the same for everything which is have more love than hate. I think everyone, whatever religion you’re in, whatever religion you’re not, that is the foundation of everything, and I found that absolutely beautiful while being there.”
Magee said because 2025 is a Jubilee Year, Rome had been crowded. However, when more than 250,000 people visited Rome for the funeral on Saturday, it was a crowd she had never experienced before.
“So many different people came together to celebrate this one man,” Magee said. “People were talking about the world leaders that showed up, but I was more focused on the people who showed up. Because, like, world leaders, they are expected to do that, but the people, they’re not. They wanted to go because they wanted to be there. Because Pope Francis did something for them.”
Pope Francis emphasized the importance of love through the Synod on Synodality, which highlights the importance of listening and accepting differences to strengthen the church. During the October 2024 break, Joseph embarked in a group of 20 Villanovans to Rome and participated in the Synod.
Joseph hopes this Synod on Synodality will continue through the next papacy.
Father Art said the message and teaching of Pope Francis can translate over to the Villanova community, especially regarding the annual Day of Service.
“I think what Francis brought to Philadelphia was the message to reach out to those who are left out,” Fr. Art said. “The message is not so much to comfort the afflicted, as to challenge those who are comfortable. Villanova…the bottom line there, is not doing for but doing with. Our Days of Service are toxic charity. I mean, we don’t know those people, we go in, we paint a wall, and we leave them. So, not that that’s not good, but where’s the relationship? We don’t become more like God because we feed the hungry, we become more like God because we relate to the hungry. He [Francis] is giving us a part of the Gospel that we are not accustomed to here.”
As the papal Conclave begins the process to elect a new pope, many Villanovans and people around the world will continue to remember and reflect upon the life of Pope Francis.
