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Pope Francis, the 266th pope of the Catholic Church and the first pontiff from Latin America, died Monday morning at 88, the Vatican announced.
The Vatican said Francis died of a cerebral stroke that put him into a coma and led to heart failure. Francis is weeks removed from a lengthy hospital stay to treat pneumonia and a complex lung infection.
“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell’s statement released by the Vatican read. “At 7:35 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 of His Church.”
After the news of Francis’ death, social media overflowed with tributes to the Argentine pontiff.
Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi shared a message accompanied by a photo of him with Francis in an Instagram story Monday.
Pope Francis, whose warm, humble, no-nonsense manner galvanized the Roman Catholic Church and drew widespread admiration from outsiders, has died.
“A different Pope, close, Argentine… Rest in peace, Pope Francis,” Messi wrote. “Thank you for making the world a better place. We will miss you.”
Eva Longoria praised Francis’ tendency to call attention to society’s most vulnerable populations.
“Rest in Peace, Your Holiness Pope Francis. Thank you for being an ally to many of us and speaking up for the marginalized,” the “Desperate Housewives” actor wrote in an Instagram post. “Your compassion, kindness and humility will always be remembered.”
CNN personality and “The View” host Ana Navarro-Cárdenas echoed Longoria’s sentiments in her own tribute to Francis.
“I liked this Pope a lot — for being humble, for having a sense of humor, for caring about the needy and marginalized, for making room in the Church and having compassion for those who’d previously been shunned,” Navarro-Cárdenas wrote. “For caring about the planet and it’s limited resources and climate, for being accessible, for being the first from Latin America, for vocally condemning [pedophila] and not covering it up.”
Pope Francis was a particularly beloved figure in the Los Angeles region. The pontiff’s death finds the community grappling with a ‘big loss.’
She continued, “I am a very flawed Catholic who he made feel welcomed in the Church, under his leadership. Rest in Peace, Pope Francis. Thank you for trying to make the Church and the world better.”
On Instagram Colombian singer-songwriter Sebastián Yatra posted a photo of him shaking hands with the pope on his grid.
“Fly high,” Yatra wrote.
“Rest in peace and power, Pope Francis, you opened hearts and minds were fearless in your guidance,” singer Gloria Estefan wrote in an Instagram post that was accompanied by a photo of Francis. “Thank you for putting love first until your last moments on this earth.”
Puerto Rican rapper Residente put up a photo of a young Francis in an Instagram story with the message “unrepeatable, special, unique” written over the picture.
The death of a pope sets in motion a series of carefully orchestrated rites and rituals well before the conclave to elect his successor begins.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires on Dec. 17, 1936, Francis was the son of Italian immigrants: a railway worker and a homemaker.
As a youth, he had part of a lung removed because of a respiratory illness. A diligent student, he studied to be a chemist in college but decided instead to join the Jesuits, the highly intellectual order known for its focus on education and its engagement with gritty real-world situations. Bergoglio entered the priesthood a few days before turning 33.
His rise within the ranks was steady. Not long after his ordination, he was named the Jesuit provincial for Argentina, which put him in charge of the order’s activities throughout the country. He named a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.
Former Times staff writer Henry Chu contributed to this report.
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