One year ago today: The Pope of the peripheries died on Easter Monday

He arrived the day after Easter, when, barely able to raise his hands, he gave his blessing «urbi et orbi» (to the city and the world). Looking haggard and tired, the 88-year-old Argentine pope made his last tour in the popemobile, staying about 15 minutes among the crowd.

But the next morning, which was an important holiday in Italy, church bells rang out announcing the death of American Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, who announced that Pope Francis had died just a few hours before.

«His whole life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and his Church,» Cardinal Farrell said in a video announcement broadcast from the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis lived.

The Wikimedia Foundation stated that his entry «Deaths in 2025», which included Pope Francis, was the second most read of the year. In addition, many people took the opportunity to learn more about his life, adding that «His English Wikipedia article was the eleventh most read page of the year.».

Elected on March 13, 2013, Pope Francis was the first pope in history from the Southern Hemisphere, the first non-European to be elected in nearly 1,300 years and the first Jesuit to succeed St. Peter.

Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Pope Francis was a tireless voice for peace, urging an end to armed conflict, supporting dialogue and fostering reconciliation.

He infused new energy into millions of Catholics - and caused concern in some - by transforming the image of the papacy into a pastoral ministry based on personal encounters and strong convictions about poverty, mission and dialogue.

His simple lifestyle, which included his decision not to live in the Apostolic Palace and his choice to move around Rome in a small Fiat or Ford rather than a Mercedes sedan, conveyed a message of austerity to Vatican officials and clergy throughout the Church.

Although he repeatedly stated that he did not like to travel, he made 47 trips abroad, taking his message of evangelical joy to North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

He was elected after the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013. The then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was already a well-known and respected figure within the College of Cardinals, so much so that no one questioned the report of a prestigious Italian magazine that claimed he had received the second highest number of votes in the four ballots cast in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI.

Elected on March 13, 2013, Cardinal Bergoglio chose the name Francis to honor St. Francis of Assisi.

«Go out» was Pope Francis' constant exhortation to all Catholics, from the cardinals of the curia to the faithful. On more than one occasion, he told them that, while the Bible presents Jesus knocking at the door of people's hearts to enter, today Jesus knocks at the doors of parish churches to go out and be among the people.