When Pope John Paul II passed away on the evening of April 2, 2005, it was widely anticipated, as he had been gravely ill for several days. The light shining from his bedroom window, which overlooked St. Peter’s Square, served as a poignant symbol for the faithful.
In stark contrast, the death of Pope Francis on Monday at the age of 88 came as a shock, despite his ongoing recovery from a hospital treatment for double pneumonia. In the days leading up to his passing, Francis had made several brief public appearances, which offered hope that he was gradually resuming his duties.
Many residents of Rome were away for the Easter holiday, resulting in a crowd of mostly curious tourists gathering in the square after news of his death broke. This was a stark difference from the scene when John Paul II died, when tens of thousands had been gathered in prayer throughout the day and into the night.
At that time, Archbishop (now Cardinal) Leonardo Sandri was in the papal apartments and instructed Monsignor (now Archbishop) Renato Boccardo, who was leading the rosary and preparing for a procession in the square, to pause. Sandri then joined Boccardo on the steps of St. Peter’s to inform the crowd that John Paul had “returned to the house of the Father.” The crowd wept, yet they were not taken by surprise.
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Pope Benedict XVI, who succeeded John Paul, passed away at the age of 95 in 2022, having stepped back from public life after resigning in 2013.
In a modest setting, Francis died in his small suite at the Santa Marta guesthouse, a choice he made upon his election in 2013, opting for this simpler accommodation over the more spacious papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, which overlooks St. Peter’s Square and symbolically connects to the world.
The windows of Francis’ apartment overlook a quaint internal courtyard, situated near St. Peter’s Basilica and a formidable centuries-old defensive wall that delineates the boundary between the world’s smallest state and Rome.
On Monday morning, with no observers below his windows to signify the connection to the outside world, Francis passed away in a more secluded manner.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, announced the pope’s death on the Vatican’s television channel that morning. He will manage the routine affairs of the Vatican in the coming weeks.
Speaking from a modest room alongside several senior Vatican officials, Farrell addressed the camera, echoing the same words that Sandri had used two decades earlier in a more poignant context.
He stated that the pope had “returned to the house of the Father.”
