Pope Francis died on Monday (Apr 21), aged 88, ending a 12-year papacy marked by attempts to reform the Catholic Church.
Only a day earlier, the frail-looking pope had delighted crowds at the Vatican on Easter Sunday with an appearance on the balcony at Saint Peter’s Basilica.
“He lived this Easter and then he went,” a worshipper said with tears in her eyes as she visited the Vatican on Monday.
FROM BUENOS AIRES TO THE VATICAN
Pope Francis, whose real name was Jorge Bergoglio, was born on Dec 17, 1936, into a family of Italian immigrants who had settled in Buenos Aires.
He attended a technical high school and worked for a while as a chemical technician at a food laboratory. After he decided to become a priest, he studied at the diocesan seminary and in 1958 entered the Jesuit religious order.
