VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, the “camerlengo” or chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, announced to the world that Pope Francis had died April 21 at the age of 88.
Shortly before 10 a.m. in Rome, Vatican Media’s livestream of St. Peter’s Square switched over to a live broadcast from the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae where the pope lived.
Standing at a microphone and taking his cue that the camera was rolling, Cardinal Farrell gave the announcement in Italian: “Dear brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I announce the death of our Holy Father Francis.”
“At 7:35 this morning Francis, the Bishop of Rome, returned to the house of the Father. His whole life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and his church,” said the cardinal, who was flanked by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the substitute for general affairs in the Secretariat of State. Standing next to the archbishop was the master of liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli.
Cardinal Farrell said that the pope “taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized.”
“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 Triune God,” he said.
Making the announcement, all four were wearing their simple, black clerical garb.
Reporters accredited to the Vatican press office had received an advisory at 9:45 a.m. local time via the messaging app, Telegram, notifying them that there would be a live broadcast to tune into on the Vatican News website and Vatican Media YouTube channel.
The press office then updated reporters on Telegram at 9:52 that the news had been Cardinal Farrell announcing the pope’s death.
Later in the morning, local churches started tolling the death knell from their bell towers. The request had come from Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, who had shared the announcement of the pope’s death on the conference website.
“It is a moment of sorrow and great suffering for all the church,” he wrote.
“Let us entrust our beloved Pope Francis to the arms of the Lord in the certainty, as he himself taught us, that ‘everything is revealed in mercy; everything is resolved in the merciful love of the Father,'” Cardinal Zuppi wrote, quoting from the late pope’s apostolic letter, “Misericordia et Misera,” (“Mercy and Misery”).
He asked all churches across Italy to ring the solemn toll throughout the day as a sign of mourning and to promote moments of personal and communal prayer in union with the other churches in Italy and with the universal church.
The Monday after Easter, April 21, is a major holiday in Italy with many residents going to the countryside for picnics or meals with friends and families. Rome, however, was full of tourists who were taking advantage of the holidays and time off from work and school.
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