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  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

Pope Francis Has Died (sky.com)

(Monday April 21, 2025 @04:22AM (msmash) from the RIP dept.)


Pope Francis has [1]died at the age of 88 , the Vatican said Monday. The pontiff, who was Bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church, became pope in 2013 after his predecessor Benedict XVI resigned. On February 14, the Pope was admitted to hospital for bronchitis treatment. From a report:

> Born in 1936, Francis was the first pope from South America. His papacy was marked by his championing of those escaping war and hunger, as well as those in poverty, earning him the moniker the "People's Pope." In 2016, he washed the feet of refugees from different religions at an asylum centre outside Rome in a "gesture of humility and service."

>

> He also made his views known on a wide range of issues, from climate change to wealth inequality and the role of women in the Catholic Church.



[1] https://news.sky.com/story/pope-francis-has-died-the-vatican-says-12890455



RIP (Score:2)

by BettyJJ ( 2689927 )

And to think that he met Vance yesterday...

Vances fault. (Score:2)

by bussdriver ( 620565 )

Vance is so toxically infuriating it certainly did kill the Pope; who didn't meet with him and sent his 2nd to educate Vance then somehow Vance still got a short private meeting anyway... to likely lecture the Pope in circular argumentative bullshit... accelerating his demise.

Re: (Score:2)

by skam240 ( 789197 )

I can only imagine how thrilled the Pope must have been to have to spend his last time on earth listening to JD Vance prattle on about how he had to lie about Haitian immigrants eating pets so people would take his made up immigrant crime wave seriously.

Re: (Score:2)

by dunkelfalke ( 91624 )

The first pope to die of cringe.

Re: (Score:3)

by quenda ( 644621 )

> And to think that he met Vance yesterday...

Let's hope he meets Vance's boss tomorrow.

Coincidence (Score:2)

by backslashdot ( 95548 )

Suddenly, coincidences exist?

The best pope yet. (Score:5, Interesting)

by Misagon ( 1135 )

I'm not Catholic, not even Christian, but I have only respect and reverence for this man.

He made his last public appearance only yesterday, wishing a large audience a Happy Easter.

"There can not be peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thoughts, freedom of speech and respect for other people's opinions". He urged for peace in Gaza and warned against increased antisemitism.

It is rare these days to see a world leader stand up for freedom, equality and basic human rights, not just paying lip-service while having another motive. And that saddens me.

Re: (Score:3, Informative)

by MacMann ( 7518492 )

> I'm not Catholic, not even Christian, but I have only respect and reverence for this man.

I came to the comments here expecting the first posts to be people asking why anyone would care if the Pope died. I'm pleased to see otherwise.

Maybe people don't need to have respect for the man but his death is still newsworthy. The Pope is a head of state, so his death should be as newsworthy as the death of any president, prime minister, "grand poobah", or whatever of any nation. The Vatican might be a nation about as big as your local city park, and have as many citizens as your local middle school h

Re: The best pope yet. (Score:3)

by commodore73 ( 967172 )

Former Catholic school student here. I'll keep my spirituality to myself and say only that I don't believe in organized religion, but some people seem to need an authority, and it's better if that is benign relative to current authoritarian leadership in various countries. Hope the next pope is as good or better, but to grow, that church really needs Vatican III, IMHO. It seems that some people don't have morality of their own, so the decline of religion has been detrimental to humanity in some ways. That c

Re: (Score:1)

by tanek ( 876501 )

I also was a bit pessimistic coming into the comments, fearing snarky remarks, but was also positively surprised. He abandoned much of the opulence other popes would make use of, like a penthouse apartment and a new Mercedes, instead living in guest accommodation, and driving an old Fiat. I'm not Catholic, barely even a Christian, but I have a lot of respect for the man, and what he wanted to do, in face of resistance from many of his cardinals.

It's amazing (Score:3)

by JamesTRexx ( 675890 )

I don't know of any other position as that of a president of a fantasy book club that has so much influence.

Mafia (Score:1)

by blowdog ( 993153 )

Another pedophile protector will be elected soon.

Re: (Score:1)

by tanek ( 876501 )

> Another pedophile protector will be elected soon.

Actually he did a lot of work to put frameworks in place, that it has severe consequences for clergy who do that kind of thing.

Re: (Score:1)

by blowdog ( 993153 )

How many priest have had these 'severe consequences'

it's all about protected the Vatican not the children.

Slashdot (Score:2)

by pele ( 151312 )

News for nerds, stuff that matters...

Bloody hell, this turned into another msnbc portal..

Re: (Score:3)

by test321 ( 8891681 )

Here news for a certain kind of nerd: if you visit the Vatican within the next days, you'll be able to collect one of the very rare 2 euro coins with "sede vacante" ("empty seat") written on them.

Re: (Score:2)

by king*jojo ( 9276931 )

> stuff that matters...

Uh, the pope died.

I think that qualifies.

Unfortunate loss (Score:2)

by divide overflow ( 599608 )

He seemed to be a very decent person and certainly one of the better popes.

Why is this on Slashdot? (Score:2)

by sTERNKERN ( 1290626 )

I'll get this from ALL the other news site, how about we keep ./ a bit more professional?

Re: Why is this on Slashdot? (Score:2)

by commodore73 ( 967172 )

Just scroll past.

La-dee-dee, la-dee-dah.