Pope Francis commended his soul to God the Creator on 21/04/2025 at 7:35 in the Vatican, at Domus Sanctae Marthae.
Regarding his funeral, the Vatican will make an official announcement later.
In the Diocese of Debrecen-Nyíregyháza, today from 12:00, we will commemorate our Holy Father with 15 minutes of bell-ringing.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on 17/12/1936 in Buenos Aires. His parents emigrated from the Piedmont region of Italy to the capital of Argentina. After graduating from a chemical technical school, he entered the seminary in 1958 and began his novitiate with the Jesuits.
He was ordained a priest in 1969, and from 1973, he was elected Provincial Superior of the Argentinian Jesuit Province.
He was consecrated a bishop in 1992. On 28/02/1998, Pope Saint John Paul II appointed him Archbishop of Buenos Aires and Primate of Argentina. At the consistory held on 21/02/2001, the Polish Pope created him a cardinal.
From 2005 until his election as Pope, he was President of the Argentine Catholic Episcopal Conference.
On 13/03/2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, by decision of the College of Cardinals, he became the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church. As Successor of Saint Peter, he chose the name Francis.
From the very first moment of his enthronement, Pope Francis made it clear what the keywords of his pontificate would be: peace, closeness, poverty, peripheries.
Continuing the tradition of his predecessors, he did not remain within the walls of the Vatican, but travelled extensively. His first journey led him to the island of Lampedusa, and he was also present at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro.
After his election, he met with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI multiple times. They often spent time together, a custom they maintained until the death of the retired Pope.
The following year, Pope Francis travelled to the Holy Land and Turkey with a message of reconciliation and dialogue. That same year, he addressed European leaders, calling their attention to human dignity as a higher value than profit.
Ten years ago, in 2015, he wrote the encyclical Laudato si’, in which he called the attention of all people of goodwill to the care of our „common home” and the protection of the most vulnerable, for whom „housing, work, and land” must be ensured. In September 2015, Pope Francis visited Cuba and then New York, where he prayed at the Ground Zero memorial and delivered a speech at the UN Headquarters in New York.
In 2016, he proclaimed the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
At the Holy Father's initiative, the World Day of the Poor was first held in 2017. For Pope Francis, the poor represented the „passport to heaven”. That same year, he travelled to Egypt and reached distant Myanmar to share in the suffering of the Rohingya people.
In 2018, a Synod of Bishops on Young People was held with young people. In the same year, a historic agreement was reached between the Vatican and China regarding the appointment of bishops.
In 2019, Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayyib signed a historic declaration in Abu Dhabi, condemning terrorism and violence. Also that year, Pope Francis convened a Synod of Bishops dedicated to the salvation of the Pan-Amazonian region. With further measures, the Holy Father strengthened the Church's process of purification and renewal for the protection of abused minors.
In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic broke out, during which the Holy Father continuously conveyed his closeness to the world through prayer, words, and gestures.
The following year, Pope Francis, as a pilgrim of peace, visited the Mediterranean basin, where, in his view, humanity was threatened by the „shipwreck of civilisation”.
From February 2022, Pope Francis' calls for peace were continuous in connection with the Russian-Ukrainian war, as were his steps towards truth, reconciliation, and dialogue during his journeys to Canada, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, and then Africa.
In 2023, following his apostolic visit to Hungary, he made a historic journey to Central Asia, to Mongolia.
In 2024, he undertook his longest apostolic journey. Over twelve days, he visited Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. And on Christmas Day that year, he opened the 2025 Ordinary Jubilee Year.
The Holy Father had been struggling with illnesses in recent years, which he bore with dignity.
Pope Francis' Relationship with Hungarians
From his youth, Jorge Mario Bergoglio knew and loved Hungarians. As a young priest, he regularly offered Holy Mass and heard confessions for Hungarian religious sisters who had fled from Hungary to Argentina.
As an Argentinian Jesuit superior, he was in direct contact with the Hungarian Jesuit religious then living in Argentina.
Following his election as Pope, he first met with Hungarians during his apostolic visit to Romania. He himself referred to the Holy Mass he celebrated at the saddle of Csíksomlyó years later as the „Hungarian Mass”. Thus, he became the first Pope to visit one of the most important national pilgrimage sites for Hungarians.
He first visited Hungary on 12/09/2021, when he celebrated the closing Mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest. During his pontificate, this was the only International Eucharistic Congress he personally attended. Already then, he promised that he would return to our country for an official apostolic visit when the opportunity arose.
This took place a year and a half later, between 28-30/04/2023. Due to his already deteriorated health at that time, Pope Francis was unable to visit various parts of the country, thus, the meetings organised for his three-day official visit to Hungary took place in Budapest. Hungarian faithful cherish the Holy Mass celebrated in Kossuth Square, and the meeting with over 10,000 secondary school and university students in the Papp László Sport Arena, as eternal memories.
The significance of these journeys is well illustrated by the fact that during his 12-year pontificate, Pope Francis rarely visited a single country or nation multiple times.
On the first anniversary of the apostolic visit, last spring, we thanked Pope Francis for his journey to Hungary as part of a three-day national pilgrimage. The Holy Father once again showed special attention to our compatriots, as he received all Hungarian pilgrims in a special audience at the Vatican.
We pray for his joyful reception by our Heavenly Father!
Budapest, 21/04/2025 – Hungarian Catholic Church