When Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pontiff at the age of 76 in 2013, he notched several “firsts.” He was the first pope from the Americas or Southern Hemisphere. The first Jesuit pope. And the first to take the name of Francis, after Saint Francis of Assisi, “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,” he said of his decision.
 
Throughout his 12-year papacy, Francis stressed this church’s role in reaching out to the margins of society, engaging with poor people and migrants and being more welcoming to LGBTQ+ people.
 
As one cardinal put it, Francis was a “pastoral pope” who showed the church how "to go out and bring the Gospel to reality, to all creation."
 
Francis made some 45 international trips as head of the Catholic Church. He was the first pope to visit Iraq, as well as other countries in the Middle East and Asia.
 
His papacy was not free of criticism. Francis drew backlash for how he addressed allegations of sexual abuse committed by clergy, later apologizing to the victims he had discredited. Conservative Catholic opposition to Francis grew as he sought to reshape the church, while more progressive factions were frustrated that he didn’t break away from the church’s traditional stance on abortion rights or women in the clergy.
 
“He didn't change any doctrine, but he certainly changed the culture of the church,” the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior analyst for Religion News Service, told PBS News. “He hated clericalism. He told bishops and priests not to act like princes, but to get down with their people and listen to them and care for them.”
 
Francis’ final resting place will be the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s four major basilicas. He paid a visit to the church, which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, after every trip abroad.
 
Francis requested that his tomb remain plain and unadorned, marked with a simple inscription: “Franciscus.”


WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE FUNERAL?