Pope Francis Dies at 88
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Good morning everyone. I'm Audie Cornish in Washington. And I'm John Berman in New York. And we do begin the morning with breaking news. Pope Francis, the first pope born in Latin America, a man who has transformed the church, passed away overnight at the age of 88.

Now, his death comes just one day after he surprised followers with an Easter appearance in St. Peter's Square and just weeks after he spent 38 days in the hospital battling pneumonia. I want to bring in Christopher Lamb, CNN Vatican correspondent who is live in Rome. Christopher, what more can you tell us after this announcement this morning?

Well, Audie, as I'm speaking to you now, the bells of St Peter's have been ringing out, marking the death of Pope Francis. You can hear them now as they ring at midday noon time. The square has gone quiet. There's now a sombre, prayerful atmosphere as people pay their respects to Pope.

Pope Francis who died this morning at 7:35 a.m. Rome time. Now there's a lot of sadness amongst people here in St. Peter's because Francis was a hugely popular

He was the people's pontiff in many ways. He, yesterday on Easter Sunday, got into the Popemobile and despite clearly not being 100% well, got around the square and the Popemobile greeting people. It was clear from looking at him that he was not himself. He had of course been dealing with double pneumonia.

and he came close to death during a 38-day hospitalisation. But this morning the news was announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is the Camalengo, who has the job of overseeing the process of certifying the death of a Pope.

He announced that news. Cardinal Farrell is the former bishop of Dallas in the United States. He's Irish-born but a US naturalised citizen. He announced that death this morning. Now, I think for many people Francis was a very accessible pope. He was a pope who wanted the church to go out to the people. He didn't want the church to stay stuck

in its gilded basilicas. He didn't want a church that projected an image of being remote or being disconnected. He wanted a church that connected with people and his big focuses were on things such as migration. He was a strong advocate for the plight of migrants. His first visit

out of Rome was to the island of Lampedusa to show his solidarity with the people risking their lives from North Africa to arrive on the island of Lampedusa. He was also a timeless advocate for the poor, the poorest in society. He wanted, he said, a poor church for the poor. He himself did not live in the palace of the Pope behind me but

in the guesthouse of the Casa Santa Marta where the news of his death was announced this morning. This guesthouse is a simple residence for people who come to Rome on church business. It's also used for cardinals before they elect a pope in a conclave. Francis decided to remain in that guesthouse to adopt a simple lifestyle. He was often seated in a simple Ford car rather than a big SUV or a big motorcade.

That was very important to him. He wanted a church that served, that was poor, that was humble. Also a tireless advocate for the environment, he wrote a very important encyclical on the importance of protecting the environment. He, of course, was the first pope from Latin America and the first pope to call himself after Saint Francis of Assisi.

a saint who was known for his radical commitment to poverty, to care for creation and to dialogue with other faiths. Now Francis was one of those popes, I think, who will be remembered for a long time. There is a strong sense of sadness, a sombre atmosphere in St. Peter's that people come to terms with the news that Pope Francis has died. And Christopher, we're going to pause for a moment and hear those bells ringing out.

-

Those bells, of course, ringing over the death of Pope Francis. Christopher, I want to follow up on something you mentioned. You mentioned the Carmelengo and the Cardinal from Dallas. Can you talk about the role of that figure in the next couple of days? Because, of course, there's going to be a funeral. And how will this process work?

That's right. Cardinal Farrell has a very important role now as Carmelengo. He effectively is running the Catholic Church's central administration during this period between the papal interregnum, the period between two popes. So Cardinal Farrell will effectively be in charge of the day-to-day running of the Vatican

He has limited powers in the sense he can't just act like a Pope, but he is effectively keeping the administration going during that time. He is also the one who was tasked with certifying the death of the Pope this morning.

and of course overseeing the prayers, the liturgy that takes place when a Pope dies. We're expecting the arrangements we put in place for people to pay their respects to Pope Francis. Pope Francis before he died did simplify the papal funeral rituals. Things will be simpler, he won't be laid out in state in the same way that his predecessor Benedict

was he'll be laid in an open casket for people to pay their tributes to and Cardinal Farrell will be tasked with overseeing that. So at this moment a former bishop of Dallas, a US citizen, is effectively running the Catholic Church's central administration during this time as the Carmelengo of the Roman Curia.

And of course I'm even hearing that the Pope has a simpler plan for his coffin. And I think it just talks about, it says something about how much of the trappings of the papacy he rejected in order to have this sort of, this theology of mercy.

Well, Mercy was really at the centre point of Francis's ministry. He called for a more compassionate and merciful approach to divorced and remarried Catholics. He wanted to allow them to return to receiving the sacraments. He also pioneered or insisted on a different approach to LGBTQ+ Catholics. He offered

...to same-sex couples. He was the Pope who said, "Who am I to judge?" when he was asked about a gay priest. So he really shifted the conversation on that in a very dramatic way. I mean, before Francis, a number of documents from the Vatican had been released on homosexuality, which really caused a lot of hurt to gay people. And Francis shifted that in a profound way during his pontificate because

He believed in the importance of emphasizing mercy. He said, "The name of God is mercy." And he would often say to people,

God who gets tired of forgiving but people who get tired of asking for forgiveness. It was all part of that desire from the Pope for the church to go out into the world, to be less constrained by some of the customs that he felt could be restricting.

the church he wanted to say that the Catholic Church was open to everyone and that was something that he repeatedly emphasized and he did make

some profound changes to the makeup of the College of Cardinals. Now they are the group who will be tasked with electing the next Pope and Francis dramatically internationalized that body. He never told anyone who he was going to make a cardinal before he announced them from the balcony of the Apostolic Palace. And he would choose his chosen cardinals from different parts of the world such as

Tonga, Haiti, Central African Republic, Mongolia, not the usual places. So that will be fascinating as we get closer to another papal election.

Okay, that's CNN's Christopher Lam. I want to turn it over to you, John, in New York. All right, thanks so much, Adi. With us now is Father Patrick Mary Briscoe. He's the editor of a Catholic newspaper out of Columbus, Ohio. Father, thank you so much for being with us this morning. And I know it is a solemn morning for Catholics around the world. Give us your thoughts on the passing of Pope Francis, what his papacy meant.

Good morning, John. Yes, I'm sorry to be with you on this occasion. To be sure, all of us Catholics throughout the world, people of goodwill, are joining us in praying for the peaceful repose of Pope. It's an astonishing thing to wake up just after having celebrated Easter, the beautiful highlight of our church's liturgical year.

to wake up and find this news about the death of our spiritual leaders, a very tragic first day of the Easter season. So I think many Catholics are feeling what I felt this morning, which is a combination of sorrow and frankly of shock because we had been seeing such a recovery, such a notable and marked recovery, in fact, of Pope Francis's good health.

So our immediate response as a church to this news, of course, is great sorrow and praying for Pope Francis, for his peaceful repose and in gratitude for his ministry and his leadership of our church. He was a champion of the poor. He was a champion of migrants around the world. What changes do you think he brought to the church that will endure?

One of the marks of Pope Francis' papacy is that he believed that God was a God of surprises. He said this often, and he would say it with a bit of a smile sometimes. And Pope Francis himself was certainly a man of great surprises. We saw many surprises. So I think we oughtn't be too shocked then that we would be surprised even by the way that he died

which is very different from the passing of Pope St. John Paul II, where all of us watched for days and where we were really prepared. I think Pope Francis' death in this hidden way is something that reflects the way that he

uh took on the way that he shouldered the way that he carried the petrine ministry which was in a more hidden pope francis papacy of course is marked by these this notable trend to simplicity the many ways he simplified the papal office the many ways he reached out and emphasized especially the care of the poor the stewardship of the earth with documents like la dada see encouraging catholics to take seriously

a call to a renewed environmental stewardship. Pope Francis also had a deep spirituality that came through in many notable ways because he was a member of the Society of Jesus. He was especially devoted to the sacred heart of Jesus. And so this spiritual turn, the spiritual emphasis of Pope Francis

came to renew, I think, a lot of traditional devotion actually in many people. That was another surprise from the papacy of Pope Francis.

I think today many Catholics will be mourning his loss, certainly will be praying for him, but also are looking towards the future. Just this weekend in Rome there was supposed to be a great celebration, the canonization of Carlo Acutis. Many of these things on Rome will be on hold, will be reorganized because of course the whole Church now has to pause and to mourn

and to share the legacy of our late Holy Father, of the late Pope Francis. - Father, stand by for just a moment because we're seeing these images of St. Peter's Square, listening to the bells ringing there, watching these people in mourning the day after they were there celebrating Easter. Just stay with us one second, Father.

Father, you mentioned the Society of Jesus, of course, Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, also the first pope from Latin America, the global south, as it were. And in so many ways, shifting the focus, I think, of the church, perhaps southward, that is where the church seems to be growing the most. What will that legacy be?

Undoubtedly, Pope Francis was very attentive to the needs of the Church in the Global South. You can look at all the data and you can see what's been happening in Latin America, what's been happening in Africa. This decentralization of the Church by Pope Francis, by choosing cardinals, for example,

from the far corners of the world, certainly has changed the way that the leadership of the church speaks about the church. It's a look wide. Pope Francis always spoke of going to the margins, to the peripheries.

to bring in those who are less engaged, but with an apostolic zeal, an evangelical zeal. That means that Pope Francis wanted people to know Jesus and to become Catholic. He really had an outward focus and a great love for the Church. That was one of his first documents, in fact, was called "The Joy of the Gospel," John. And I think a lot of people, when they remember Pope Francis, will remember especially those early days. Again, we've been talking about this news as coming as a great shock.

The Pope made many public appearances lately, presenting himself. Of course, he met with the Vice President of the United States, with Vice President J.D. Benz. So the news, again, really has shocked the world, has taken us all by great surprise here to hear this news that he's passed. Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, editor of The Sunday, our Sunday visitor out of Columbus, Ohio, I really do appreciate your words this morning, helping us understand the impact

of the man, the reign of his papacy, the impact it will have for generations to come. Father, thank you. Of course, we're all waking up to the news that just after Easter Sunday, Pope Francis has passed away at the age of 88, a dozen years in the papacy, Audie. One that I think will be remembered for having a huge, huge impact, a very different pope

a very different papacy. Yes, absolutely striking from beginning to end, given even how he came to the papacy after a surprise retirement. And ever since then, he has been off and running with changing the direction of the Church in so many ways. We're going to hear more about that today as we hear world reaction to this news. We're going to hear more from the Vatican itself. Of course, as the Catholic Church mourns the death of Pope Francis, what is going to happen next?

We're going to be back with our continuing coverage of the death of Pope Francis. We're back now with our continuing coverage of the death of Pope Francis. Here's a live look at St. Peter's Square, where people are actually gathering after hearing the news, which was announced by Vatican officials just hours ago. His whole life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and his Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love.

especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalised.

Pope Francis was 88 years old. He had been the Pope for 12 years, ascending to the head of the papacy in 2013. His death marks the end of an era. So we're going to talk about what happens next. Live, Rome, we're going to bring in CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wiedemann. So we know that Carmelengo, who is the person who is now kind of the administrative head of the Vatican, is taking things from here.

Help us understand these next couple of weeks before there is that conversation about a conclave and the next pope. Yes, the chamberlain or Camerlengo, Kevin Farrell, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, was the man who announced Pope Francis's death this morning. And his first steps are going to be to remove the papal ring from Pope Francis.

Francis's finger and seal his study and apartment in the Casa Santa Marta, which is the Spartan guest house that Pope Francis chose to live in, as opposed to the rather sumptuous apostolic apartments that popes normally live in.

And obviously, they haven't set a date yet for the funeral, but it's going to be clearly a very large event. It will take time to organize, to send out invitations, and to make preparations for that. But in the meantime...

The invitations will be going out to 250 cardinals around the world to come to Rome to attend first the funeral and then of course there's going to be the conclave where they will be kept in seclusion.

to ponder who will be the next Pope, where they will be voting perhaps repeatedly on to make to finally come to a decision as to who will be the next pontiff. But this is really we are at the very beginning of a long and complicated process

of transition from the Pope who is now passed away to the next Pope. But obviously, this is, like I said, the beginning of a very old process that Rome has seen many times before. But at the moment, really, what we're doing, I think the people in Rome and beyond, obviously, are absorbing the shock of the news of the passing of Pope Francis, given that, of course, that

He was out and about yesterday in St. Peter's Square in the Popemobile. Yesterday afterwards, he did meet U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance. It's a shock because, of course,

He spent weeks and weeks starting in mid-February at Rome's Gemelli Hospital. And I was there when he appeared on the balcony the day he left and then drove away, was driven away in his Fiat Cinquecento. And the assumption was he was on demand.

Despite the fact he's 88 years old, he was recovering from double pneumonia. The assumption was that he would slowly, gradually recover from that. Doctors had urged Pope Francis, when he left the hospital,

to rest, not to overexert himself, but clearly this was a pontiff who insisted as much as he physically could to resume his normal activities. Hadi.

Yes, and of course did so on Easter Sunday when he offered that blessing and also met with the vice president, J.D. Vance. So as you said, despite him being in health for so many of these weeks and even recent years, it still was a surprise to many because of those high-profile appearances yesterday. Ben Wiedemann, thanks so much. We'll be following with you later today. Still ahead on CNN this morning, we're going to return to Rome for more reaction to the breaking news of the death of Pope Francis.

This is CNN breaking news

Good morning everyone, I'm John Berman in New York. And I'm Audie Cornish in Washington. Back now with our breaking news. Pope Francis, the Catholic Church's first Latin American pontiff, has died at age 88, the Vatican announcing just hours ago. His final public appearance came on Easter Sunday just 24 hours ago. He gave an Easter blessing to the thousands of people gathered for Mass at St. Peter's Square. Such a poignant moment for this pope.

12 years in the papacy, very much a working pope. He spent weeks in the hospital with severe respiratory ailment, was released just a few weeks ago, but braved his way through Holy Week, through Easter weekend with a reduced schedule, but working nonetheless, his presence

very much felt over the last few days. But overnight, he did pass away at the age of 88. I want to bring in Christopher Lamb, CNN Vatican correspondent who is live in Rome. So many firsts when we talk about Pope Francis Christopher, the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit, someone who I think assumed the papacy, looking to be a different pope, and then spent 12 years being that.

that different pope. What's it like to be there this morning with people waking up to this news? Well, John, the news came as quite a surprise and a shock, given that the pope had been out on Easter Sunday amongst the people working until the end. But at the same time, of course, he had been dealing with

very serious health difficulties. He'd been in hospital for 38 days. He almost died in hospital on two occasions. But it was characteristic of Pope Francis to try and get out of hospital and continue to work. He wanted to serve until the end. Some people speculated he might resign. That was never on his agenda. He wanted to give everything to

to the role of serving as Pope. As you said, Francis was a Pope of firsts, the first Pope from Latin America, the first to call himself after St Francis of Assisi. St Francis, a saint who was dedicated to the poor, to care for creation, to peace. Francis was a

pioneer in the church's ministry in these areas. He wrote a very important teaching document on the protection of the environment. He was an outspoken advocate for the poorest in society. He went to be alongside migrants

on a number of occasions. His first trip outside of Rome was to Lampedusa, the island where many people were landing from North Africa, risking their lives and sometimes dying in the Mediterranean as they tried to seek a better life. Francis was a pope also for the people. He was a people's pontiff who wanted the church to

leave its comfort zones and go out into the midst of suffering humanity. That was Francis' message and that's what he wanted the church to do. He was someone who shifted the acts

axis of the Catholic Church as well, away from its European centre, its western centre. He appointed cardinals from all over the world, places like Tonga, Haiti, Central African Republic, Mongolia. He dramatically reshaped the College of Cardinals, the body who will elect his successor. And that is a very significant legacy because

He has sought to continue to internationalize the Catholic Church. I mean, the growth of the Catholic Church is in many ways outside of Europe and the West. It is growing in Asia and Africa. And Pope Francis sought to reflect that with his appointments. Francis was also an outsider pope. He was elected having never studied or lived in Rome. So he shook up

the church establishment here in the Vatican and amongst those in the senior positions in the church. He demanded a church that was more simple, more humble. He called for a poor church for the poor. And that sometimes saw him come up against resistance because he refused to be scripted by the Vatican bureaucracy. He was very much his own man. He did things often

without telling other people he was a Pope full of surprises. Even on Easter Sunday his decision to come out into the square on the Popemobile took a lot of people by surprise given those health challenges that he'd had. He also appeared on the balcony behind me at St Peter's to give a final blessing, the Easter Sunday Urbex Orbi blessing. He was determined to

to continue to serve, to do that right until the end. And I think here in the Square there's a sense of sadness because Francis was a hugely popular Pope, a people's Pope who continued to serve and to give everything right until the end.

A transformational pope, and I think deliberately so from the minute that he assumed the papacy until the very end. And it wasn't always linear, was it? I mean, there were times when he had to backtrack slightly from things that he said to explain sentences and proclamations that he had made. But all the while, he was pushing for change. You are in St. Peter's Square, Christopher. As you say, can you just give us a sense of what it is like there today?

this morning in the difference from just 24 hours ago when it was Easter mass. I think I lost Christopher Lamb who is in St. Peter's. It has been remarkable over the last several days, Audie, because of course the Pope

was on a somewhat diminished schedule, recovering from those serious health issues, but he still did manage to get out to a prison, to meet with prisoners as he had done every year in the papacy prior to Easter. He still did drive through St. Peter's Square in the Popemobile yesterday, which was something that Christopher was just saying, Christopher was saying was a surprise. And Christopher Lamb, if you are still with us again, just describe the scene in St. Peter's Square.

Oh, we lost him again. The perils of modern television. You can see the pictures right there. Obviously, there are people, there are tourists there. They will be mixed in with people who I think are mourning. They're just to pay their respects to Pope Francis and his 12 years on the throne there, Adi.

Yeah, it's a striking moment because all of these weeks you had people in the square because he had been so ill, of course, being hospitalized in February, ending up having a respiratory infection that which led to damage to both lungs. So people have been worried about the pope for so many months. And Easter Sunday was supposed to be a respite moment, right, with him coming out and giving that blessing.

Now, I want to talk more, John, about his legacy. We're going to turn to Katie McGrady. She's CNN's Vatican analyst and host of the Katie McGrady Show on Sirius XM. That's the Catholic channel. And the channel is operated by the Archdiocese of New York. Katie, thank you so much for being here. First, I want to just start with this moment with him passing away right after

in a time when Catholics are celebrating, Christians are celebrating. This is a season of joy. And what strikes you about him passing at this time? It's very Francis. In some ways, kind of an Irish goodbye from our Holy Father that we saw him yesterday really push himself

And to wake up this morning to the news, you know, as a faithful Catholic who has met the Holy Father a couple of times and has followed very closely his 12 years and read his documents and his homilies and, of course, been guided by him.

I think Catholics around the world are a little surprised and shocked and shaken up. I mean, I'm looking at the live feed. St. Peter's Square is still very full. And so the thing about us as Catholics is we might be without a pope right now. We are Sede Vacante. We have no pope on the chair, on the throne, so to speak. But the church still continues and we'll have a new pope eventually. Right now, of course, we sit in mourning.

and think about all that he's done over the past dozen years. And I think yesterday was kind of the snapshot quintessential Francis. He pushed himself. I was watching some of the videos last night, so when he was out on the balcony for the Urbi at Orbi, they cut away when they're kind of getting him ready, and the Holy Father could barely lift his arms to put his glasses on,

to put the stole on. It was very much a, this is a diminished man. And yet he's still here with his people. He's still giving this last final blessing, the Urbi et Orbi to the city and to the world. And so that's very moving for me as a Catholic to know that he gave us one final Easter Sunday, one final drive around St. Peter's Square, one final kiss of a handful of babies that were passed to him. When they told us he passed at 735 this morning, we

We don't know and might never know the specific details of his final night, but as a Catholic, you know, I'm grateful that we got one last day with the Holy Father yesterday.

You know, his leadership skills, I think, were evident even very young in his career. It was in the early '70s he became head of the Jesuit order in Argentina, and that put him on a path towards Rome. But it's not obvious that he would have been the person to have become pope. Can you talk about why he was a unique figure in Catholicism? That's a great question. When the Holy Father was elected in 2013,

He wasn't necessarily the dark horse candidate. He had been the number two in the prior conclave when Pope Benedict XVI was elected. But I do think a lot of people kind of expected a more career cardinal. And that's a bit of an inside term in the sense of somebody who's in Rome, who's in the Curia. Famously, Pope Francis, the day after he was elected, went to go pay his hotel bill.

because he really did think he was just going to get to go back to Argentina. Sadly, he never did return to his home country. That was never a place he visited after he assumed the papacy. So when he stepped out on that balcony 12 years ago, there were some gasps and there were some surprise, but we as Catholics believe the Holy Spirit calls forth the leader of the church, and I would say the world needs at the precise moment.

Francis was definitely a Pope of the people and would mingle and would mix and would grab hands and would kiss the babies. And obviously all Popes are very approachable to the people because they are our Holy Father. But when he was given to us 12 years ago, and now as we say goodbye,

So many people are going to have stories of those moments of encounter. And to see that unique pastoral spirit in our church for the past 12 years, to miss that pastoral spirit at this precise moment, there's instances, in fact, where Francis would get out of the Popemobile when he'd see somebody. There was this famous moment where a man who was covered in sores, the Holy Father steps out and goes and hugs him.

instances where the Holy Father would pick up the phone and he would call people. And it was kind of the everybody wanted the surprise papal phone call. He was calling the parish in Gaza throughout his hospital stay, as he's done since the war began in October that year. And so I think there's a lot of things we'll be able to notice about what he did over the past 12 years and stories that folks will tell.

inside the church the Holy Father was a massive shake-up in some ways the way he governed the way he appointed people even the documents that he wrote

And so as we unpack that legacy, especially as we mourn in the next few days of mourning and prepare for his funeral and then eventually a conclave, what we're going to see is that the Holy Spirit gave the Catholic Church someone very unique in these past dozen years and will feel the aftershocks of his papacy for many, many more years to come.

And I understand that even comes down to his burial and where he'll be. Can you talk about what details are known about this process?

So we're entering into our nine days of mourning, and the Holy Father changed some of the particulars. So, for example, how his body will be in rest and state for people to come and pass by. He won't be dressed in the papal finery. He'll be dressed in a simple pastor's cassock.

And then he will be buried in St. Mary Majors. Now, this is something that I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it unfolds. Obviously, I miss the Holy Father, and I'm sad we are in this state of mourning. But the Holy Father will be buried in St. Mary Majors. St. Mary Majors is one of the four papal basilicas. In fact...

Pope Francis visited St. Mary Magers when he got out of the hospital. It was the only place other than a prison that the Holy Father went to outside of the Vatican after his hospital stay.

We've known he wants to be buried there for a long time. They've made the arrangements for it. It is where the Salus Populi Romani, his favorite Marian image, is kept. And that image of Our Lady, Pope Francis would go and visit before every trip, and he would visit it upon his return. And so he'll be buried there. We don't know which chapel, or I don't know which chapel specifically, in St. Mary Major's. He'll be the first Holy Father, the first Pope, to be buried there.

outside of St. Peter's Basilica since 1903, when Pope Leo XIII was buried in St. John Lateran, another of the four papal basilicas. Since we're in a jubilee year, these basilicas have been very crowded, so I think it's unique that he'll be buried there, outside of St. Peter's Basilica, and will, I think, increase the foot traffic. People are certainly going to want to go and pray at his grave when he's placed there.

Katie, you're obviously your host of a show on SiriusXM's Catholic channel that's operated by the Archdiocese of New York. We're seeing images, obviously, of Rome, but do you also expect to have people gather in the Archdiocese of New York, other places in the U.S.? Oh, for sure. Absolutely. In fact, when the Holy Father went into the hospital in February,

Obviously, we were not anticipating a funeral anytime soon, but internally, dioceses around the country begin to make plans. So in this papal mourning period, we're in a nine-day period of mourning, masses will be said by the cardinals of the world in the places where they serve and the dioceses they run. And then throughout the church, even in the tiniest chapel, there will be masses said for the Holy Father. There will be black mass.

bunting that is hung. We, of course, are without a pope, so we, in the Eucharistic prayer, when the priest will say, you know, we pray for our pope, we don't have a pope right now, so they pray for the repose of the soul of the prior pope. So yes, there will be mourning around the world. His photo will be taken off the wall because

he is gone and he is not the Pope anymore. And so as all these arrangements are made, there's also the thinking about when the funeral is going to be and when the conclave is going to be, of course. But at this precise moment, certainly, in fact, the Vatican announced just a little while ago, there will be a rosary tonight. There will be an official certification of the death. I believe it's at eight o'clock Rome time this evening. So we're entering into this phase of

Yes, we are in Easter joy, in the Easter octave, where we believe every day is like an Easter Sunday until next Sunday, but we're also in a period of, we remember our Holy Father, we pray for the repose of his soul, and we ask the Lord to be with us in this phase of our church's life. It's Katie McGrady, CNN's Vatican analyst. So sorry for your loss in this moment, and the loss for so many Catholics and people around the world.

And John, this is also a moment where we're seeing people gather in St. Peter's Square. People have been there for weeks and months because the Holy Father had been ill. And yesterday it was thought that him coming out was a different moment, right? A reprieve and perhaps that he was on the mend.

It was certainly a moment now that will be remembered quite differently as he, I think, bravely faced his own mortality the last few weeks coming out of the hospital like that, but then still participating

in Easter weekend. And that was such a fascinating discussion you just had with Katie McGrady, because we're now entering, obviously, this period which has over a thousand years of tradition. The passing of a pope, the naming of a new pope, but still with so much tradition, Pope Francis, who regularly pushed against, I think, some of the ceremony of the Catholic Church

His passing will be part of that tradition, but on his own terms, being buried in a basilica where no pope has been laid to rest in more than 100 years. I think a testament to the change that he sought in the Catholic Church. All right, coming up after the break, we're going to continue our breaking news coverage as Catholics around the world mourn the passing of Pope Francis. If we want security, let us give security. If we want life...

Let us give life. If we want opportunities, let us provide these opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time uses for us. Once upon a time, a young couple inherited their grandfather's castle in France.

Renovating the chateau is keeping my grandfather's legacy alive, but it is falling apart. The bottom floor is the beauty. May I present to you this secret passageway. The three floors above are the beast. Oh, my gosh. Will their fairy tale have a happy ending? Castle Impossible series premiere Tuesday, April 29th at 9 on HGTV. Stream next day on Max. ♪

We're continuing our breaking news coverage out of the Vatican this morning and the passing of Pope Francis at age 88. His papacy was filled with firsts. He was the first pope from Latin America. He was also the first Jesuit to lead the throne. We're going to go now to Rome where CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wiedemann has been there this morning seeing people gather in

and the reaction. First, can you talk a little bit about sort of what you've been hearing in terms of reaction from leaders around the world?

Certainly we're seeing an outpouring, Adia, of condolences from leaders around the world, from the White House, from Giorgio Maloney, the Italian prime minister, from the Israeli president, even from Hamas, which has expressed its condolences for Pope Francis. This was a man who was not seen as particularly knowledgeable

negative or sort of anybody's enemy. He was a man who believed in dialogue and speaking to everyone in trying to build bridges. He was a voice of compassion, of understanding, of humility in an age when those qualities seem to be increasingly rare among world leaders.

So certainly his passing is being felt not just by Catholics but others around the world. Here in Rome, of course, we've been hearing the church bells have been going off. More and more people seem to be gathering at St. Peter's Square, which is oftentimes the case, keeping in mind that today is a national holiday. It's Pasqueta, the day after Easter.

Easter, when normally people will go out, enjoy the spring weather, go to the beach, go to the mountains, have picnics, family gatherings. But all of that perhaps is going to change. For instance, the Serie A, the main football or soccer league in Italy, has postponed four games that were supposed to be held today. So really the country and probably beyond Italy, many areas, normal football

functions are coming to a pausing at least to mark the passing of a man who was certainly larger than life. That's Ben Wiedemann. He's going to be with us throughout the day reporting more. I'm going to turn now to Elise Allen because she's the senior correspondent at Crux Now, which is a publication that covers the Vatican. Elise, thank you so much

for joining us on this moment. Kruk's story is saying that he was an electrifying, maverick pope leaving behind a roller coaster legacy. Can you talk about that description?

Sure thing, Adi. You know, Pope Francis was somebody that whether, you know, you agree with him or not, he made a difference. He got your attention. He shook things up. That was something he did from the very beginning. You know, I think even the choice not to live in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, to live instead in its Santa Marta guest house, you know, instead of

going straight into his residence after his election, taking the bus back with all the other cardinals. He's somebody that started making a change and started shaking things up from the very beginning. And we saw that throughout his papacy, whether it was disregard for protocol or some of the familiar language that he used, very accessible, and changing the church's language on purpose.

For example, you know, its approach to the issue of homosexuality and his his desire for more women in the church. These are all things where he really, you know, was that electrifying presence or he was a bit of a maverick. And people, you know, sometimes they agreed, sometimes they didn't. But you can't argue that he wasn't stirring something up. Thank you so much, Elise, for speaking with us. Elise is senior correspondent at Crux Now.

As we've been talking about this morning, just a few hours, 7.35 local time, the Cardinals announced the death of Pope Francis. He obviously had been in ill health for many months, beginning in February, where he had a bronchial infection.

His last couple of hours spent doing the Easter blessing on Sunday. Also meeting with Vice President J.D. Vance where they had a conversation about theology and also reportedly some of the politics of the day. It is a day of mourning in Rome and around the world. We want you to stay with us because CNN's breaking news coverage of the death of the Pope is going to continue right now.

I'm Eva Longoria, and I'm exploring Spain and its 17 regions to see how the land and its people have created one of the world's most exciting cuisines. Eva Longoria, Searching for Spain, premieres Sunday at 9 on CNN.