Pope Francis has died aged 88, Vatican confirms
21 April 2025, 09:49 | Updated: 22 April 2025, 06:59
The Vatican has announced the death of Pope Francis on the morning of Easter Monday, 21 April 2025.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Pope Francis has died aged 88, the Vatican has confirmed, at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta on Easter Monday, 21 April 2025.
His Eminence Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced: “Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis.
“At 7.35am this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalised.
“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 the One and Triune God.”
Born on 17 December 1936, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope and leader of the Catholic Church in March 2013, following Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to step down.
As Pope, he was notable for his more informal approach to many social issues, urging the church on several occasions to treat people with leniency and forgiveness.
Pope Francis died on Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta.
Posted by Vatican News on Monday, April 21, 2025
Read more: Pope Francis reveals he loves Bach’s Passions and Italian classical-pop
Pope Francis was a great aficionado of music, and particularly classical music. In a 2013 interview, he revealed his love of Mozart, Bach, and Wagner: “The ‘Et incarnatus est’ from [Mozart’s] Mass in C minor is matchless; it lifts you to God! Mozart fulfils me.
“And then Bach’s Passions. The piece by Bach that I love so much is the ‘Erbarme Dich’, the tears of Peter in the St. Matthew Passion. Sublime. Then, at a different level, not intimate in the same way, I love Wagner. I like to listen to him, but not all the time.“
Musicians across the classical world have paid their respects to Pope Francis, including pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, who said: “We have lost one of the most remarkable human beings and influential popes.
“I met Pope Francis for the first time in 2014. We shared an immediate connection, not only because we were both born in Buenos Aires and shared a common language, but because we also shared a deeply felt belief in humanism.
“He was also a devoted listener of classical music and impressed me, on many occasions with his knowledge and insight.”
In 2022, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi shared a collection of musical paraphernalia the Pope had sent him ahead of Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival, including a vinyl of Bach’s St John Passion, an Arvo Pärt CD, and a record by operatic pop trio Il Volo.
The Pope’s music library, curated by Ravasi, is said to include nearly 2,000 CDs and 19 vinyl records, among which tunes by Édith Piaf and Elvis Presley can be found.
