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Pope Francis Has Died (sky.com) 66

Posted by msmash from the RIP dept.
Pope Francis has died at the age of 88, the Vatican said Monday. The pontiff, who was Bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church, became pope in 2013 after his predecessor Benedict XVI resigned. On February 14, the Pope was admitted to hospital for bronchitis treatment. From a report: Born in 1936, Francis was the first pope from South America. His papacy was marked by his championing of those escaping war and hunger, as well as those in poverty, earning him the moniker the "People's Pope." In 2016, he washed the feet of refugees from different religions at an asylum centre outside Rome in a "gesture of humility and service."

He also made his views known on a wide range of issues, from climate change to wealth inequality and the role of women in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis Has Died More | Reply

Pope Francis Has Died

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  • RIP (Score:3, Interesting)

    by BettyJJ ( 2689927 ) on Monday April 21, 2025 @04:11AM (#65320011)

    And to think that he met Vance yesterday...

  • Suddenly, coincidences exist?

  • The best pope yet. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Misagon ( 1135 ) on Monday April 21, 2025 @04:28AM (#65320037)

    I'm not Catholic, not even Christian, but I have only respect and reverence for this man.

    He made his last public appearance only yesterday, wishing a large audience a Happy Easter.
    "There can not be peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thoughts, freedom of speech and respect for other people's opinions". He urged for peace in Gaza and warned against increased antisemitism.

    It is rare these days to see a world leader stand up for freedom, equality and basic human rights, not just paying lip-service while having another motive. And that saddens me.

    • Re:The best pope yet. (Score:5, Informative)

      by MacMann ( 7518492 ) on Monday April 21, 2025 @04:56AM (#65320071)

      I'm not Catholic, not even Christian, but I have only respect and reverence for this man.

      I came to the comments here expecting the first posts to be people asking why anyone would care if the Pope died. I'm pleased to see otherwise.

      Maybe people don't need to have respect for the man but his death is still newsworthy. The Pope is a head of state, so his death should be as newsworthy as the death of any president, prime minister, "grand poobah", or whatever of any nation. The Vatican might be a nation about as big as your local city park, and have as many citizens as your local middle school has students, but what happens there has an influence on over a billion Catholics all over the world.

      It is rare these days to see a world leader stand up for freedom, equality and basic human rights, not just paying lip-service while having another motive. And that saddens me.

      I can't say I agreed with the man on every topic but he was clearly someone that spoke for human rights. We need people like him. While he didn't command a large military the office of the Pope carries weight in the world.

      • Former Catholic school student here. I'll keep my spirituality to myself and say only that I don't believe in organized religion, but some people seem to need an authority, and it's better if that is benign relative to current authoritarian leadership in various countries. Hope the next pope is as good or better, but to grow, that church really needs Vatican III, IMHO. It seems that some people don't have morality of their own, so the decline of religion has been detrimental to humanity in some ways. That c

        • Former Catholic school student here. I'll keep my spirituality to myself and say only that I don't believe in organized religion, but some people seem to need an authority, and it's better if that is benign relative to current authoritarian leadership in various countries.

          I believe all people, especially young men, will seek some authority figure to set the boundaries on their behavior. There's no doubt that any organized religion will have flaws on where those boundaries are drawn, especially if there's someone in that organized religion using their position to enrich themselves or feed some other vice than set the next generation on a path for maximal enlightenment and joy. If there's no organized religion to guide people, again especially young men, then people will gra

          • I do not disagree, and I believe they will largely seek male role models. For me, one of the main problems with modern US culture is a lack of proper male role models, in the schools (mostly female teachers), in the home (working, overworked, absent, not worthwhile, etc. father), in the media and online (don't get me started), and possibly elsewhere. I also believe that every human power structure becomes corrupt, including organized religion. Before attending Catholic high school, I grew up in a hippie cul

          • I believe all people, especially young men, will seek some authority figure to set the boundaries on their behavior.

            Fortunately that is not true - otherwise, the world would be a big Cardassian-style dictatorship.

        • That church is not nearly as bad as it was even a few decades ago though. There is no justification for the abuses.

          Francis was just another protector of child molestation, because he's just another pope under which the Vatican refused to release its information on which molesters they relocated, and what molestation they know they engaged in. And you're right, there is no justification for the abuses.

          The Vatican sits on massive stolen wealth while preaching about caring for the poor, so even if it wasn't a conspiracy to molest children and protect the molesters, going so far as to relocate them to other places where the

          • I'm not certain that the pope controls policy for the entire church. I fear there may be enough evidence to bankrupt the church. Everyone defends their own interests. I don't know whether they're doing everything that they can to prevent or at least reduce abuses, but if they are not, that would be more important than the legacy abuses. I am not certain that/what financial compensation would be appropriate for the legacy abuses, but it would not punish the perpetrators anyway.

            • I'm not certain that the pope controls policy for the entire church. I fear there may be enough evidence to bankrupt the church. [...] I am not certain that/what financial compensation would be appropriate for the legacy abuses, but it would not punish the perpetrators anyway.

              So let it continue?

              Financial compensation wouldn't un-molest anyone, but destroying The Vatican and forcing them to return all their stolen cultural memorabilia would improve The World considerably. They are still molesting children, and still protecting molesters, and IDGAF what their PR department has to say about it.

              • I never thought to destroy the Vatican. Interesting idea but I think it is unrealistic and I'm not sure it would add value. Returning anything stolen seems like an obvious partial remedy for some errors of the past. I honestly think that humanity requires more spirituality today (without denying science), specifically things like meditation, of which I see prayer as a variant. Church and ritual encourage that and also provides community. I never understand rituals, but I do Buddhist rituals, I listen to cha

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by tanek ( 876501 )

        I also was a bit pessimistic coming into the comments, fearing snarky remarks, but was also positively surprised. He abandoned much of the opulence other popes would make use of, like a penthouse apartment and a new Mercedes, instead living in guest accommodation, and driving an old Fiat. I'm not Catholic, barely even a Christian, but I have a lot of respect for the man, and what he wanted to do, in face of resistance from many of his cardinals.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by buanzo ( 542591 )

        I can't say I agreed with the man on every topic but he was clearly someone that spoke for human rights. We need people like him. While he didn't command a large military the office of the Pope carries weight in the world.

        +1

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by eegeerg ( 673636 )

          I can't say I agreed with the man on every topic but he was clearly someone that spoke for human rights. We need people like him. While he didn't command a large military the office of the Pope carries weight in the world.

          +1

          Amen

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by buanzo ( 542591 )
      He was Argentine, and was always at the center of political situations. He never visited his home again because he wanted to avoid his presence being used politically. His documentary on netflix is quite good.

  • I don't know of any other position as that of a president of a fantasy book club that has so much influence.

    • ... that it is a roughly 2000 year old book club with a track record of being not too easy on non-members, so there's that. Then it's a book club that - as any other abrahamic fantasy book club- is very good at booking young fertile women into the mother part of life and likewise booking young men into picking a wife and performing well as a father.

      Which goes to show that, being a fantasy book club or not, it's a mind-virus that is very good at securing the perpetuation of the species. It comes with a hard

  • Unfortunate loss (Score:3)

    by divide overflow ( 599608 ) on Monday April 21, 2025 @04:52AM (#65320069)
    He seemed to be a very decent person and certainly one of the better popes.

  • A death of a pope is always over-dramatised around the world. (shrug)

    IMHO, while John Paul II was widely known and regarded, all the popes that followed haven't really done anything distinctive to be remembered.

    Perhaps if you elected them at 60 and not 80 they'd have more time to do something to be remembered for in their career.

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