PHOTOS: Pope Francis 1936-2025

Pope Francis holds the hand of a toddler as he salutes faithful at the end of his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis, centre, sits by the coffin of late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI St. Peter’s Square during a funeral mass at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. Benedict died at 95 on Dec. 31 in the monastery on the Vatican grounds where he had spent nearly all of his decade in retirement. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis, right, kisses hand to Canadian Indigenous woman as he arrives at Edmonton’s International airport, Canada, Sunday, July 24, 2022. Pope Francis begins a weeklong trip to Canada on Sunday to apologize to Indigenous peoples for the abuses committed by Catholic missionaries in the country’s notorious residential schools. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis, white figure standing alone at center, delivers an Urbi et orbi prayer from the empty St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Friday, March 27, 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vatican on Friday announced that Francis will celebrate Mass for Palm Sunday, on April 5, Holy Thursday, on April 9 and Easter vigil and Easter Sunday on the weekend of April 11-12, all at the basilica’s central altar. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (Yara Nardi/Pool Photo via AP )

Pope Francis (L) and Egypt’s Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb (R) sign documents during the Human Fraternity Meeting at the Founders Memorial in Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019. Pope Francis rejected “hatred and violence” in the name of God, on the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the Muslim-majority Arabian Peninsula. (Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP) (Photo by VINCENZO PINTO/AFP via Getty Images)

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, left, and Pope Francis meet at the Jose Marti airport in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 12, 2016. This is the first-ever papal meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a historic development in the 1,000-year schism within Christianity. (Max Rossi/Pool photo via AP)

Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and others applaud Pope Francis as he arrives to address a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, making history as the first pontiff to do so. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Pope Francis meets Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015. The Vatican described the 40-minute meeting at Castro’s residence as informal and familial, with an exchange of books. (AP Photo/Alex Castro, File )

In this March 27, 2014 file photo, President Barack Obama, left, reacts as he meets with Pope Francis, center, during their exchange of gifts at the Vatican. President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Pope Francis on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Biden is only the second Catholic president in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Pope Francis is welcomed upon his arrival in the island of Lampedusa southern Italy, Monday July 8, 2013. Pope Francis has arrived on the tiny Sicilian island of Lampedusa to greet recently arrived migrants as yet another boatload came ashore carrying 162 Eritreans. Francis came to pray with survivors of the treacherous crossing from Africa and mourn those who have died trying. He flew Monday from Rome to Lampedusa’s airport and was traveling by coast guard ship to the island’s main port, where he is to throw a wreath of flowers into the sea to remember migrants who never arrived. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis waves as he arrives in St. Peter’s Square for his inauguration Mass at the Vatican, Tuesday, March 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Zach Crilley met Pope Francis in 2015 in D.C. (Courtesy Zach Crilley)

New Ways Ministry’s Sister Jeannine Gramick met Pope Francis in 2024 at the Vatican. (Courtesy Francis DeBernardo)

D.C. residents watch a livestream of Pope Francis when he visited the nation’s capital in 2015. (WTOP/Mike Murillo)

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MD – SEPTEMBER 22: (AFP OUT) Pope Francis departs in a Fiat after arriving from Cuba to the United States September 22, 2015 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Francis will be visiting Washington, New York City and Philadelphia during his first trip to the United States as Pope. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

FILE – In this March 27, 2014 file photo, President Barack Obama, left, reacts as he meets with Pope Francis, center, during their exchange of gifts at the Vatican. President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Pope Francis on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Biden is only the second Catholic president in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Pope Francis waves to the crowd after speaking at St. Patrick in the City Catholic church in Washington DC, USA, 24 September 2015. St. Patrick is the oldest Catholic church in Washington, founded in 1794. Pope Francis is on a five-day trip to the USA, which includes stops in Washington DC, New York and Philadelphia, after a three-day stay in Cuba. (Pool)

Pope Francis (Front C) pauses in front of a sculpture of Spanish-born Junipero Serra, the Franciscan Friar known for starting missions in California, in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC, USA, 24 September 2015. Pope Francis is on a five-day trip to the USA, which includes stops in Washington DC, New York and Philadelphia, after a three-day stay in Cuba. Pope Francis added the Cuba visit after helping broker a historic rapprochement between Washington and Havana that ended a diplomatic freeze of more than 50 years. (Pool)

Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up while greeting school children before departing the Apostolic Nunciature, the Vatican’s diplomatic mission in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, en route to the Capitol to address a joint meeting of Congress. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)