As Pope Francis died on the 21st at the age of 88, messages of condolence and remembrance continued from around the world. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an early hoisting of the Pope in public buildings in the U.S. and said he would attend the funeral of the Pope, while his mother country, Argentina, declared a seven-day period of national mourning. Following the will of the deceased to “burden the Vatican without any special decoration,” Pope Francis’ funeral is expected to be simple. Attention is focusing on whether the first non-white pope will be produced in Asia or Africa in the process of selecting the pope, which will begin next month. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered early hoisting of the non-white pope in public buildings in the U.S. to mourn the late Pope Francis. President Trump has disagreed with Pope Francis on various international issues, including refugees, since his first term in office, but he said, “He was a good man,” adding, “He worked hard and loved the world.” He plans to attend the funeral of Pope Francis with his wife, Melania. If President Trump visits Italy to attend the funeral, it will be his first foreign visit since he regained power in January.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also expressed his condolences on the death of Pope Francis. According to the Tas news agency, Putin told reporters that he expressed a “very positive attitude” toward Russia and that “we will remember this.” Putin met with Pope Francis during his visit to the Vatican in 2013, 2015 and 2019 and had his last phone conversation with the Pope in December 2021.
Israel and Iran, enemies of the Middle East, also expressed their condolences in unison for Pope Francis’ death, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain, a devout Catholic country, told X, “We mourn Pope Francis’ death. His commitment to peace, social justice, and the most vulnerable has left a deep legacy.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz, who will be inaugurated as Germany’s next prime minister, also sent a message of condolence. The Argentine government, which is based in its motherland, declared a seven-day mourning period at the news of the death of the pope.
Pope Francis, who has led the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics for 12 years, has suffered from respiratory diseases throughout his life. As a young man, Pope Francis had his lungs removed and frequently suffered from bronchitis and other respiratory diseases in the winter. He had been hospitalized for treatment since Feb. 14 at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome due to a respiratory disease that had afflicted Pope Francis. However, the cause of his death was cerebrovascular disease. Andrea Arcangelo, director of the Vatican’s Health and Sanitation Bureau, said on the evening that the Pope died after suffering from an irreparable heart failure after suffering a stroke.
He wished for world peace, saying, “End the war” until the closing day. In his last Easter sermon left on the previous day, Pope Francis said, “The situation in Gaza Strip is deplorable,” adding, “We urge warring parties to call for a ceasefire and release hostages to help hungry people who aspire for a future of peace.”
Pope Francis will likely follow the will of the deceased in a simple manner. Pope Francis left a will to bury in a simple tomb without any special decoration in the basement of the Great Hall of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Of the 265 Popes in his predecessor, 148 were laid in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican explained that the pope asked not to make any special decorations on the tomb, but wanted his name engraved in Latin. Usually, the mourning period is nine days, and the funeral is expected to last four to six days at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
With the death of the pope, Catholic churches around the world have become “sede vacante.” The Apostolic See is the seat left by Jesus to Peter, who was the first and first pope, and the Apostolic See Vacancy refers to the period when the Pope, who succeeds Peter, is vacant due to his predecessor or resignation.
As a result, the process of electing the next pope is expected to begin next month. The likely candidates include Cardinal Pietro Parolin of Italy and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines. As he served as the Vatican’s second-in-command of state for more than 10 years from 2013, he is considered to have extensive bureaucratic experience. Given that he is from Asia due to his reformist tendencies, Tagle is considered a leading candidate for the next pope. None of the Popes had an Asian background. African clergymen from non-European countries are also on the list, and Cardinal Peter Kodo Appia Tuxon (Ghana), who served as the first minister of the Vatican’s Department for the Promotion of Human Development, is also mentioned as the next pope. If a person from Africa is elected pope, it will be the first time in 1,529 years since Gelasio I, who served between 492 and 496.
The U.S. betting site Polymarket predicted a 42 percent chance of Cardinal Parolyn being elected on the same day, while Cardinal Tagle had a 30 percent chance of being elected.
SAM KIM
US AISA JOURNAL
