Prison visit and wheelchair ride in a T-shirt These were the last days of Pope Francis
As he drove across St. Peter's Square, Francis already appeared very weakened.
Image: dpa
On Sunday, Francis received the Catholic US Vice President JD Vance at his residence in the Vatican.
Image: dpa
During his visit to a prison on Maundy Thursday, the Pope was greeted with applause.
Image: dpa
As he drove across St. Peter's Square, Francis already appeared very weakened.
Image: dpa
On Sunday, Francis received the Catholic US Vice President JD Vance at his residence in the Vatican.
Image: dpa
During his visit to a prison on Maundy Thursday, the Pope was greeted with applause.
Image: dpa
Some surprising appearances and a final blessing in St. Peter's Square: Pope Francis made several public appearances in the days before his death.
21.04.2025, 15:47
21.04.2025, 15:48
dpa
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday. In the last few days before his death, the 88-year-old appeared in public several times. On Easter Sunday, he also recited the Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World) blessing in St. Peter's Square. The Argentinian already appeared very weak. An overview of the last days of the Pope's life.
Easter Monday
Francis dies at 7.35 am. A good two hours later, the Holy See announces his death. He had spent 38 days in Rome's Gemelli Hospital in the spring due to pneumonia. He had recently returned to his residence in the Vatican: the Santa Marta guest house not far from St. Peter's Basilica.
Easter Sunday
In front of 35,000 people in St. Peter's Square at midday, Francis gives the blessing Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World). His voice is very weak. He cannot get more than two sentences out. His Easter message is read out by a clergyman while he sits quietly in a wheelchair. Afterwards, he is driven around the square in an open papamobile. He already looks very weak.
Shortly before his last public appearance, at around 11.30 a.m., Francis receives the Catholic US Vice President JD Vance for a few minutes of conversation in his residence. This will be the last state guest from abroad.
Holy Saturday
Before the Easter Vigil, the Pope is brought to St. Peter's Basilica by helpers in a wheelchair for a short prayer. He is not present at the most important mass on the Easter Vigil. The service is celebrated by the Italian Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals.
Good Friday
The Pope is also represented by high-ranking cardinals at the Stations of the Cross service on Good Friday at the Colosseum. He had already missed the devotion the previous year due to his failing health.
Maundy Thursday
As he does every year, Francis visits a prison shortly before Easter. He is taken to the Regina Coeli prison in Rome, where he is greeted with applause by around 70 inmates. Unlike in previous years, however, Francis refrains from washing the inmates' feet in a gesture of humility.
April 12
Francis makes a surprise visit to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome to pray. He will also find his final resting place in the fifth-century church of St. Mary, very close to Rome's main train station - not in St. Peter's Basilica, like many other popes. The basilica was already one of Jorge Mario Bergoglio's favorite places during his lifetime.
April 10
He makes his most unusual appearance a week and a half before Easter. After a tour of the Vatican in a wheelchair, he is wheeled into St. Peter's Basilica - apparently a spontaneous idea. Francis is not wearing his usual white papal robe, but black trousers, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a kind of blanket or poncho. He has a tube in his nose through which he is supplied with additional oxygen due to his breathing problems.
