Pope’s body could be transferred to Vatican on Wednesday

The pope’s body could be transferred to St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday, a Vatican spokesperson has said.

Here is what the Vatican has said this afternoon…

The transfer of the body of the Holy Father to the Vatican Basilica for the homage of all the faithful could take place on Wednesday morning, 23 April 2025, according to the modalities that will be established and communicated tomorrow, following the first congregation of cardinals.

From lung removal to bronchitis: The pontiff’s health history over the years

The 88-year-old pope had part of one lung removed as a young man and over the years had recurring bouts of bronchitis, needing to hospitalised on a number of occasions.

Here we take a look at the pontiff’s health over the years…

1957: While in his early 20s, Pope Francis suffered from a severe respiratory infection that forced doctors to remove part of one lung.

July 2021: The pontiff spent 10 days at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, after having part of his colon removed. The surgery tackled a severe narrowing of his large intestine.

January 2023: Francis underwent a three-hour operation to repair a hernia.

April 2023: The pope was back in hospital with a respiratory infection after feeling a sharp pain in his chest and having trouble breathing.

He was diagnosed an acute bronchitis.

June 2023: The pope underwent abdominal surgery at Gemelli hospital.

14 February 2025: The religious leader was admitted to hospital after battling a bout of bronchitis for more than a week.

19 February 2025: The pope was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.

24 February 2025: Blood tests show Francis has an “initial, mild” kidney problem.

28 February 2025: Francis suffers “an isolated breathing crisis” causing him to vomit, provoking a “sudden worsening” of his respiratory condition.

3 March 2025: Pope suffers two episodes of respiratory failure.

23 March 2025: A frail looking pope is discharged from hospital.

Trump pays short tribute to pope

The US president has shared this brief tribute on his social media site Truth Social.

While Donald Trump did not meet him during his current term in office, they did during his first in 2017.

Pope’s funeral expected this month

Vatican sources have said the pope’s funeral should take place within the next nine days.

Sky News understands it should happen sooner than that.

As we reported at 11.41, the pope is breaking from some traditions, revealing in an interview in 2023 that he had picked the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in Rome, one of his favourite and most-frequented churches, as his final resting place.

Traditionally, the pope is buried in the crypts beneath St Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican, where almost 100 popes are entombed.

Ceremony to make London-born teen a saint suspended

A planned ceremony to proclaim a London-born teenager a saint has been suspended due to the pope’s death.

Carlo Acutis, who died from leukaemia in 2006 at the age of 15, was scheduled to be made a saint in St Peter’s Square this coming Sunday.

For more on Acutis and why he’s going to be sainted, click on the link below…

Global Catholic population grew under Pope Francis

By Kate Schneider, data journalist

During his tenure, Pope Francis oversaw a rise in the number of Catholics worldwide, driven primarily by growth in Africa and the Americas.

Africa is the fastest-growing region for Catholics – and not just because of its faster overall population growth compared to other regions of the world. The proportion of the region’s population identifying as Catholic also grew during Francis’s papacy.

And, despite only getting their first pope with Francis in 2013, the Americas are the most Catholic of all the world’s regions. The region has the greatest number of followers, as well as the highest proportion of their population that practices the faith.

In 2022, 666.2 million Catholics lived in the Americas – 64% of the continent’s total population.

Europe, on the other hand, lost about 1.5 million Catholics between 2013 and 2022, going from 39.9% to 39.5% of the total population.

Prof Bullivant said the slight decline in the number of European Catholics could be attributed to a low Catholic birthrate as well as poor rates of transmission, or the likelihood that children raised Catholic will continue practising as adults.

Argentina’s president describes ‘true honour’ in knowing pope

Argentina’s president has shared a tribute to his compatriot.

“It is with profound sorrow that I learned this sad morning that Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio, passed away today and is now resting in peace,” he wrote on social media.

“Despite differences that seem minor today, having been able to know him in his kindness and wisdom was a true honour for me.

“As president, as an Argentine, and, fundamentally, as a man of faith, I bid farewell to the Holy Father and stand with all of us who are today dealing with this sad news.”

Requiem mass to be held at Westminster Cathedral today

Requiem masses are expected to be held in Catholic cathedrals across England and Wales 

A mass will be held at Westminster Cathedral in London at 5.30pm. 

Prayer cards have been distributed to Catholic parishes throughout the two countries, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said.

A requiem mass is also known as a mass for the dead. 

Pope ‘passed away peacefully’, hospital sources say

Sources at Rome’s Gemelli hospital have said Pope Francis “passed away peacefully”.

The pontiff had been treated for double pneumonia at Rome’s biggest hospital, where he spent five weeks before he was discharged on 23 March.

Pope Francis ‘one of the most influential people of the 21st century’

Pope Francis was “arguably one of the most influential people” of the 21st century, a former editor of the Catholic Herald has said. 

Madeleine Teahan told Sky News that millions of people would feel the loss of the pope and he would be remembered for “standing up for what he believed was right”. 

“He was certainly controversial in many ways. He divided catholics in a number of ways… but he was trying to capture those catholics who had come away from the church and wanted to find their way back,” she said. 

“He will be remembered as someone who has many different sides to him and that’s what makes him so unique to many Catholics.”