00:00He
00:29He will go down in history as a radical plaintiff.
00:32From his election in March 2013, Pope Francis championed the poor and the vulnerable.
00:37Francesco D'Assisi, the man of poverty, the man of peace, as I would like a poor church
00:56Dubbed the People's Pope, the Argentine Pontiff forged a more open and compassionate Catholic
01:02Church than his predecessor, though he faced bitter opposition from traditionalists within
01:07the Church.
01:08The football-loving former Archbishop of Buenos Aires staunchly defended the most disadvantaged,
01:14from prisoners to migrants to communities battered by climate change.
01:18A call for a courageous and responsible effort to redirect our steps and to avert the most
01:30serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity.
01:41I'm convinced that we can make a difference, I'm sure.
01:50Francis, whose real name was Jorge Mario Burgolio, was the first ever Pope from the Americas and
01:56the first non-European in more than 1,200 years.
01:59He was also the first Jesuit to lead the world's almost 1.4 billion Catholics.
02:05Born in Buenos Aires to a working-class family of Italian immigrants, he studied to become
02:10a chemical technician, before deciding to go down the path of priesthood shortly before
02:14turning 17.
02:16Francis was ordained as a priest in 1969, and went on to lead Argentina's Jesuits at only
02:2136 years old.
02:22In 1998, he became the Archbishop of Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, and three years later,
02:28he was made a Cardinal.
02:31Then in March 2013, he was elected Pope Francis I, taking over from Benedict XVI, who had stepped
02:39down, the first plaintiff to do so since the Middle Ages.
02:43Francis vowed to remove the Vatican-centric hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
02:47He promised an end to impunity, and changed Vatican law to help tackle sexual abuse within
02:52the Church.
02:53Francis allowed divorced and remarried believers to receive communion, and approved the baptism
02:59of transgender people and blessings for same-sex couples.
03:04Francis allowed divorced and remarried believers to receive communion, and approved the baptism
03:13of transgender people and blessings for same-sex couples.
03:20And criminalizing homosexual people is an injustice.
03:34Critics accused the Pope of creating doctrinal confusion and failing to defend traditional
03:39Catholic beliefs on key issues.
03:41Tensions with the conservative Catholics marked the Synod Congress that met at the Vatican
03:45at the end of 2023, part of a years-long global consultation on the future of the Church, that
03:51Francis now leaves unfinished.
03:53Despite being plagued by health issues over the last years, he kept up a relentless schedule
03:57at both the Vatican and frequent trips abroad, including a four-nation Asia-Pacific tour in September
04:032024.
04:16Francis' desire to chart a different path was evident right to the end, with the decision
04:21to be buried not at St. Peter's Basilica, but at Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore.
04:26He would become the first Pope in more than a hundred years to be laid to rest outside the
04:29Vatican, also rejecting the tradition of Popes having three nested coffins, instead choosing
04:35to be buried in just one.
04:37His death sets in motion centuries-old traditions, which will culminate in a gathering of a conclave
04:42of Cardinals to choose a successor.
04:44In the meantime, the day-to-day running of the Vatican will be held by the Carmelengo,
04:48a senior Cardinal, currently Dublin-born Kevin Farrell.
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