The Archbishop of Southwark has praised Pope Francis's final public act as a powerful testament to his faith, following the pontiff's death on Monday morning at age 88.
According to Vatican officials, the pontiff suffered a stroke followed by rapid cardiac failure early Monday morning after waking up at 6am.
Dr Andrea Arcangeli, Director of the Vatican's Health and Hygiene Directorate, confirmed the Pope had been battling multiple health conditions, including Type II diabetes, high blood pressure and bilateral pneumonia.
The 88-year-old pontiff had recently spent five weeks in hospital fighting double pneumonia before returning to lighter duties in late March.
The Pope died yesterday
ReutersThe Archbishop of Southwark told GB News in an exclusive interview: "I think we’d seen the Pope in hospital, and we knew he had been very, very poorly. Then we saw him begin to recover a little and make public appearances still very impaired.
"I think yesterday, when he was able to give us the Easter blessing from the balcony, and also to be among his people in the square, he was, in a sense, able to do the two most important things a Pope must do. One is to witness to the Resurrection. The second is to strengthen God’s people.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
"He did both of those things. If I could choose a time to die, it would be just like this at Easter, in the joy, hope, and faith of the Resurrection.
"Almost like Christ on the Cross, he could have said, 'It is finished.' Very much so. He could have avoided the public.
"He could have gone into hiding. And this is one of the great dangers of our society and our culture that we hide away suffering.
"But the Pope has lived out his carrying of the Cross in the public eye, and he has done that with great grace, great faith, and a powerful witness to us all that it is possible to live and die with dignity and faith.
"Catholics around the world are now praying for the repose of his soul. In many ways, he brought a different tone to the ministry of the Church. And I think the biggest change he has asked of us is attitudinal.
"I love the encounter between the Lord Jesus and the rich young man in the Gospel. When the rich young man struggles to follow because he is too encumbered, the Lord looks steadily at him and loves him.
"For me, that sums up what the Pope has brought to the Church in our time: that the gaze of the Church, and all of us within it, to each other and to the world, must be one of looking steadily with the love of Jesus, with the compassion of Jesus, in order to help people understand themselves more deeply in His light. And, please God, to come to faith in Him.
"The Church preaches forgiveness, Christ preached forgiveness. But to the woman taken in adultery, He also says: 'Go, and sin no more.' It’s not a sort of free-for-all. And the late Pope clearly had that in mind.
"I think very much so. Compassion doesn’t make things that are wrong, right. It asks us to go to the place of people’s suffering and hurt, to stand with them, to accompany them and, in whatever ways we can, to lead them further towards a deepened sense of the truth about themselves, and the truth of the Gospel."
The Pope's body will lie in state at St Peter's Basilica for three days starting Wednesday, allowing the public to pay their respects.
The Archbishop of Southwark payed tribute to the Pope
GB NEWS
Breaking with tradition, Francis's body will not be placed on an elevated bier but will rest in a wooden coffin facing the pews, as per his final wishes.
The pontiff requested burial at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, between the Pauline and Sforza chapels, with a simple inscription reading "Franciscus".
His funeral service must take place between four and six days after his death, with Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re presiding over the mass.
The ceremony is expected to draw world leaders and heads of state to St Peter's Basilica.
Most read
More
