WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR: M.J. GDNUS
Pope Francis passed away this morning, Vatican chamberlain Cardinal Kevin Ferrell announced.
- This morning at 7:35 a.m., Roman Bishop Franjo returned to the Father's home. His whole life was dedicated to serving the Lord and his Church - said Farrell in the announcement.
Francis' death came Sunday after he was discharged from a Rome hospital after battling a life-threatening case of pneumonia.
Yesterday he appeared before the faithful
Yesterday, on Easter, Pope Francis unexpectedly appeared in front of the faithful in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican and briefly wished those gathered: "Happy Easter."
The Holy Father came out in a wheelchair and waved from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to the thousands of believers who greeted him with great applause.
The Pope's cause of death will be announced tonight; ANSA: Respiratory problems not the cause
The cause of Pope Francis' death will be announced later tonight, Vatican sources have confirmed. The sources also say that the date of the pope's funeral is expected to be announced tomorrow.
Citing well-informed sources, ANSA reported that a cerebral hemorrhage is the possible cause of the pope's death, and not respiratory problems stemming from his recent life-threatening pneumonia. According to what ANSA has learned, a hemorrhage may be the possible cause of Francis' death.
His death occurred suddenly this morning at 7:35 and, as reported, is not directly related to respiratory diseases.
The first pontiff born outside Europe
Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The 266th head of the Roman Catholic Church, he was the first from the Americas, the first Jesuit and the first pontiff born outside Europe in more than a thousand years.
Bergoglio, the son of Italian immigrants, worked as a chemical technician before entering the Jesuit order in 1958, reports Radio Free Europe.
He was ordained a priest in 1969 and became the provincial head of the Jesuits in Argentina from 1973 to 1979.
In 1998, he was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and three years later, Pope John Paul II inducted him into the College of Cardinals.
He was elected pope in 2013, after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
He chose the name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, reflecting his commitment to modesty and poverty.
His papacy was marked by an emphasis on mercy, social justice and environmental protection.
What is the procedure after the death of Pope Francis: How to choose a new head
The rites surrounding the election of a pope are centuries old. All cardinals under the age of 80 have the right to elect a pope. There are currently 138 of them.
After the death or resignation of a pope, the cardinals meet in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, where they are sworn to secrecy and isolated from the outside world. The name conclave comes from the Latin term cum clave (under lock and key).
The isolated cardinals can debate the merits of the likely candidates. Open campaigning is not permitted, but it is “still a highly political process,” the BBC reports.
The election is conducted through a series of secret ballots, with each cardinal elector writing the name of their choice on a piece of paper.
A two-thirds majority is required to elect a pope.
Four rounds of voting are held each day until one person receives the required two-thirds majority.
The ballots are burned after each session, emitting smoke that can be seen by observers in St. Peter’s Square and beyond. If the smoke is black, the cardinals have not reached a decision. White smoke indicates that a new pope has been elected.
What is a conclave?
The group of cardinals who make up the conclave that elects the next pope is “truly the world’s most powerful electoral body” relative to its size, the Financial Times reports.
Francis, the first non-European pope since the eighth century, has largely shaped the choice of his successor. Of the 138 cardinals under the age of 80, the vast majority were appointed by him.
The total number of cardinal electors is technically limited to 120, but Francis is not the first pope to exceed that limit.
Most cardinals will not know much about the future papal candidates before the conclave. The election of a pope is not like a vote for political leadership, where candidates publicly present their views and publicly vet themselves, often ad nauseam.
A smaller part of the conclave is made up of cardinals from the Roman Curia, which helps the pope govern the Church, mostly archbishops “on the ground” from dioceses around the world.
The current electoral college of cardinals lacks representatives from some large and traditional cardinal sees, such as the archdiocese of Milan and Los Angeles, which Francis bypassed in favor of archbishops from the "periphery" who reflect his pastoral orientation and concern for the poor. Thus, the college of cardinals will have more Latin American, African, and Asian cardinals, and fewer curial, Italian, and European cardinals than usual.
