How did Pope Francis die? No suffering, but pope went into coma before stroke: Vatican
When Pope Francis died on April 21, he had been recovering from a lengthy hospital stay for double pneumonia and other health issues
Hundreds of thousands of mourners have lined up to pay their respects and bid farewell to Pope Francis ahead of the Holy Father's funeral on Saturday, April 26.
Pope Francis, 88, died on Easter Monday, April 21, after a weeks-long health battle. His body has been been lying in state since Wednesday, April 23, in St. Peter's Basilica.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will attend the funeral, the White House said. Other world leaders expected to attend include UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Britain's Prince William, who will attend the funeral on behalf of his father, King Charles III. Also attending are U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
How did Pope Francis die?
Pope Francis died on April 21 after suffering a stroke and heart failure, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli said in a death certificate released on Monday, Reuters reported. The pope had fallen into a coma before his death, according to the certificate, which was published by the Vatican.
His death came weeks after a lengthy battle with double pneumonia and other health issues. Pope Francis had reportedly been struggling to breathe and speak before being admitted on Feb. 14 to a Rome hospital, where he was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.
During the five-week hospital stay, the pope underwent procedures known as bronchoscopies to clear his air passages. The pope was also diagnosed with a polymicrobial infection and then mild renal insufficiency. At one point, physicians considered halting treatment to allow Pope Francis to die peacefully.
After 38 days in the hospital, the pope was released March 23 from the hospital to return to his Vatican residence at the Casa Santa Marta to continue his recovery. Earlier this month the Vatican had said the pope was improving.
Pope Francis died quickly on April 21 without suffering undue pain, and there was nothing that doctors could have done to save his life, said Sergio Alfieri, a physician at Rome's Gemelli hospital and head of the pontiff's medical team, Reuters reported.
After the pope's memorial service on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET), his body will be buried at Rome's Basilica of Saint Mary Major in a simple wooden casket, per his request.
Prior to his hospitalization, Pope Francis wrote about death in the preface of a book on old age by Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola.
"Death is not the end of everything, but the beginning of something," he wrote, Reuters reported. "It is a new beginning … because eternal life, which those who love already begin to experience on earth, is the beginning of something that will never end."
"For this reason, that (death) is a 'new' beginning, because we will live something we have never fully lived before: eternity," he wrote.
Paste BN livestream of the funeral of Pope Francis
Paste BN will be streaming the event live. Click here to watch.
Contributing: John Bacon, Eric Lagatta, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Anthony Robledo and Mary Walrath-Holdridge
Mike Snider is a reporter on Paste BN’s Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com
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