Global Leaders Offer Tributes to Pope Francis

Church bells tolled across Rome, and tributes have been pouring in from leaders around the world after the Vatican on Monday announced the death at age 88 of Pope Francis, who led the Catholic Church since 2013.

Francis made his last public appearance at St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday, after a prolonged hospitalization due to a respiratory issue that had developed into double pneumonia.

Before his death, Francis on Sunday also met briefly with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who is Catholic, at the Vatican. (Francis had previously criticized the Trump Administration’s immigration policies.)

Vance posted on X early Monday that he had just learned of the Pope’s passing, and he shared a link to a March 2020 homily that he said he would remember him by. “I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill,” Vance noted. “My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.”

Global leaders mourned Francis and honored his legacy in statements.

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