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In Vatican City, Mourners And The Curious Gather After Pope Francis Dies

Thousands pay their respects at St Peter’s Square as more visitors are expected over the nine-day mourning period. Vatican City – Thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square on Monday to pay their respects to Pope Francis after his death that morning. A multitude of languages could be heard as people, many carrying flowers, spoke to each other in hushed tones. As the sun set, a prayer was held for the late Argentinian pontiff, who died at the age of 88 following a stroke and heart failure. His death came at a symbolic time, not just because it was Easter Monday, a day marking resurrection and new life, but also because it is the year of the Jubilee, a Catholic pilgrimage that occurs every quarter of a century. Pope Francis had opened the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica just four months earlier to mark the beginning of the Jubilee as he welcomed millions of pilgrims to the Vatican. He had invited the world in, and now, as Cardinal Kevin Farrell, camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church announced on Monday morning, he has “returned to the house of the Father”. Miguel Cofarro, a 61-year-old devout Catholic from Rome, was at St Peter’s Square with three friends on Monday evening. He said he felt like he had lost his grandfather – an “honest” character who had the people’s best interests at heart. “Pope Francis took charge of the Vatican, fought corruption, and was more open with information. He felt authentic,” he said firmly, his friends nodding in agreement. When Cofarro finished work, he made his way to the square with no real plan. He was, he said, like many Romans, still in shock. Jessica Hernandez, a 39-year-old hotel worker originally from Mexico, said although she is not particularly religious, she was raised in a Catholic household, and the news had been a “powerful and upsetting shock”. She had spent most of the evening on the phone to her mother in Mexico, describing the mood in St Peter’s Square. Kevin de la Rosa, a 26-year-old bar worker from Venezuela, sat watching people gather at a heavily guarded, fenced-off area in front of the grand facade of St Peter’s Basilica, which is flanked by colossal statues of saints and opens onto the vast expanse of St Peter’s Square. He said he came to the Vatican out of curiosity to witness how people were reacting and to experience the atmosphere on the historic day, which he described as “sombre” and “respectful”. For de la Rosa, the mood evoked many childhood memories of his home country, where he attended a Catholic school. Seeing how the pope’s death has moved people in Rome has helped him rediscover his respect for the Church, he said, explaining how, for him, the pontiff was an important figure who stood up for the poor. Luciano Biteno, a member of the International Red Cross, looked out over the square, adjusting his walkie-talkie as he communicated with 20 colleagues or so who were deployed to the area. About a dozen ambulances flanked the periphery of the square. Biteno said Monday was calm and there had been no medical emergencies to handle, but he expected many more people to arrive from around the world over the next few days. He said all the authorities, including the police and military, are increasing their presence in the Vatican to handle the anticipated increase in the number of visitors following the pope’s death. Hernandez said the hotel she works at is now fully booked for the next 15 days, and hotel staff have been told to prepare for overtime. On Tuesday, she said, “Rome will change. It will be full of people – we have bookings from all over the world, and it feels like everyone is coming to this city.” For now, the seat of St Peter is vacant, and the papal apartments are sealed. The College of Cardinals, comprised of senior Catholic clergy, will have to choose Pope Francis’s successor, but, for now, there will be a nine-day mourning period in the Vatican as cardinals arrive from around the world. Pope Francis’s funeral will be held on Saturday, April 26. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Israeli Spy Chief Accuses Netanyahu Of Demanding Illegal Operations

Ronen Bar fires latest salvo in ongoing showdown with Israeli PM that has divided country. Israel’s spy chief has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to fire him for his refusal to commit illegal acts aimed at protecting the leader’s personal and political interests. Ronen Bar, chief of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, made the assertion in an affidavit to the Supreme Court on Monday. Netanyahu’s move last month to dismiss Bar was suspended by the court pending an investigation, and the ensuing tussle has provoked large protests, with crowds accusing the prime minister of endangering democracy. Netanyahu said he would sack the spy chief due to a breakdown in trust, supposedly linked to Hamas’s attack in October 2023 that led to the Gaza war. However, Bar said Netanyahu’s decision was motivated by a series of events between November 2024 and February 2025. In the unclassified part of the court submission, Bar said Netanyahu had told him “on more than one occasion” that he expected Shin Bet to take action against Israelis involved in antigovernment demonstrations, “with a particular focus on monitoring the protests’ financial backers”. The Shin Bet head also said he had refused to sign off on a security request aimed at relieving Netanyahu from testifying at an ongoing corruption trial in which he faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of public trust. Netanyahu’s bid to oust Bar came as Shin Bet was investigating financial ties between the prime minister’s office and Qatar, a key mediator in the Gaza war. Critics say the firing is tainted by a conflict of interest and was meant to derail that inquiry. Shin Bet also happened to be carrying out an inquiry based on suspicion that the government had ignored warnings in advance of Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, when the armed Palestinian group killed more than 1,100 people and took about 250 captive. More than 50 of them remain in Gaza. Netanyahu and the hardline Zionist parties that support his government have faced harsh criticism for their failure to agree to a ceasefire and the return of the remaining prisoners. Israel’s onslaught on Gaza has killed more than 51,000 people, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health. Netanyahu’s office has said Bar’s affidavit was “full of lies”, and later responded to several of his claims, stating that he had “failed miserably” when Hamas attacked Israel. It also denied that the move to sack Bar was aimed at thwarting the so-called “Qatargate” investigation. “The dismissal was not intended to prevent the investigation. Rather, the investigation was intended to prevent the dismissal,” it said. Netanyahu’s move to sack Bar was suspended by the Supreme Court after political watchdogs and opposition lawmakers argued the dismissal was unlawful. The bid to unseat the spy chief and the continuing fight have further fuelled the protests over the government’s failure to secure the captives from Gaza. Bar has accepted Shin Bet’s failure to stop Hamas’s attack, saying on Monday that he would “soon announce the date of my resignation”. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Israeli Attack Kills Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya Leader In Lebanon

Attack on Hezbollah ally one of two deadly strikes as Lebanon PM under pressure to dismantle armed groups. A top commander of the armed wing of the Lebanese party al-Jamaa al-Islamiya has been killed in an Israeli drone attack in Lebanon. The attack on Hussein Atoui’s car south of Beirut was one of two deadly strikes launched by Israel on Tuesday. The strikes were part of a wave of ongoing violations from both sides of the border of the ceasefire agreement struck last November between Israel and Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah, risking a flare-up of hostilities. Lebanon’s Civil Defence confirmed that “an Israeli drone targeted a car” near the coastal town of Damour, about 20km (12.5 miles) south of Beirut, and rescuers recovered a man’s body from the vehicle. Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, which is allied with Iran-linked groups Hezbollah and Hamas in Palestine, confirmed the death of Atoui, calling him an “academic leader and university professor” who had been “targeted” in his car as he travelled to work, in a statement. The AFP news agency, quoting an unnamed security official, said Atoui was a leader of al-Jamaa al-Islamiya’s armed wing, al-Fajr Forces. Separately, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said another Israeli attack on the southern Tyre district also killed one person. Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya claimed responsibility for multiple attacks against Israel during more than a year of cross-border hostilities, including two months of all-out war that saw thousands killed in Lebanon in Israeli air raids before the November ceasefire deal was struck. Under the truce, Hezbollah, a powerful political and military force in Lebanon, was to withdraw fighters from south of the Litani River, about 27km (17 miles) north of the border with Israel, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure there. Israel was to withdraw all its forces from south Lebanon. However, it has maintained troops in five positions it deems “strategic”. It has pointed to continued sporadic rocket fire from across the border to justify its continued attacks. On Sunday, it said it killed two senior Hezbollah members in strikes. The United Nations said last week that Israeli forces have killed at least 71 civilians in Lebanon since the ceasefire. Lebanon, meanwhile, says it is trying to meet its obligations to disarm Hezbollah and other groups and have its military take control of southern regions. After unclaimed rocket fire against Israel in late March, the Lebanese army said last week it had arrested several Lebanese and Palestinian suspects, while a security official said they included three Hamas members. However, the United States has been applying sustained pressure on Beirut to accelerate the process of disarming Hezbollah. That has seen Lebanese President Joseph Aoun announce that he hopes to complete the process by the end of 2025, although he insisted on Sunday that he would not be rushed and warned that dismantling the group is a “sensitive, delicate issue”. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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When And How Did Pope Francis Die? A Look At The Pontiffs Last Days

We take a closer look at Pope Francis’s final days before his passing on Easter Monday. What's the legacy of Pope Francis? Pope Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88. “Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow, I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on Monday. “At 7:35 this morning [05:35 GMT], the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church,” he said. Here is what we know about the death of the Argentinian pontiff, the first in history from Latin America, who led the Catholic Church for more than 12 years. Pope Francis died of a stroke followed by a coma and heart failure on Monday morning, the Vatican’s press office said in a statement. The pope has also suffered a “previous episode of acute respiratory failure”, arterial hypertension and type II diabetes, the statement said. Farrell made the announcement at 9:47am (07:47 GMT), about two hours after Francis died. Farrell spoke from Domus Santa Marta, the apartment on Vatican grounds where Francis lived and where he had returned to recover after a hospitalisation for double pneumonia in February. In the coming weeks, Farrell will play an important role, overseeing the administration of the Holy See until a new pope is chosen. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra seal the doors of the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace and the door to the apartment of the Casa Santa Marta, where the late Pope Francis lived. The rite of the certification of death and… pic.twitter.com/PP6j4SbqPr — Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 21, 2025 The pope was hospitalised for five weeks in February-March, initially suffering from a severe respiratory insufficiency from viral and bacterial infections. He had often struggled with bronchitis during winter. He was subsequently diagnosed with a polymicrobial infection, which evolved to pneumonia in both lungs. Francis came close to death during his hospitalisation, according to his medical team. He was also treated for an asthmatic respiratory episode, early-stage kidney failure, and a bronchial spasm that led him to aspirate vomit following a severe coughing fit. He received noninvasive mechanical ventilation at night and high-flow oxygen therapy during the day. His doctors had said the pope was so critically ill that the staff considered stopping his treatment so he could die. “We had to choose whether to stop [treatment] and let him go, or push forward and try [to save him] with all the drugs and therapies possible, running the very high risk of damaging other organs. In the end, we took this path,” Sergio Alfieri, a general surgeon at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, said in an interview recently. According to Alfieri, it was the pope’s personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, who urged the medical team to persist with treatment, saying, “Try everything – don’t give up.” His condition stabilised, and the pontiff continued his recovery at his residence. He made several public appearances over the past week, but his weak voice served as a reminder of his frailty. Doctors at Gemelli Hospital prescribed him a regimen of complete rest. After 38 days in hospital, the pope was discharged on March 23. He returned to his residence at the Casa Santa Marta. With Easter just three weeks away, the pope’s schedule grew increasingly demanding. On April 9, he met King Charles of the United Kingdom and Queen Camilla at the Casa Santa Marta. This meeting coincided with their 20th wedding anniversary during their state visit to Italy. The audience was arranged at the last minute, following the postponement of a planned formal state visit due to the pope’s health issues. On April 17, Holy Thursday, a significant day in the Catholic calendar commemorating the Last Supper of Jesus Christ, Francis visited Rome’s Regina Coeli, where he met with some 70 inmates. In past years, he had washed the feet of prisoners, echoing Jesus’s gesture with his disciples on the eve of his death. This time, however, the Vatican said he apologised for being unable to perform the ritual. Instead, he offered them rosaries and pocket-sized Gospels as gifts. Four days later, on April 20, Francis received United States Vice President JD Vance at his residence. “I know you have not been feeling great, but it’s good to see you in better health,” Vance said. “Thank you for seeing me.” The meeting came as the pope and Vatican officials have criticised several of President Donald Trump’s policies, particularly his efforts to deport migrants. Francis has denounced the immigration crackdown as a “disgrace”. Meanwhile, Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, has defended the policy by referencing his interpretation of Catholic teachings from the medieval era. It was the pope’s last diplomatic meeting. Later that day, he delivered the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing, Latin for “to the city and the world”, before thousands of Catholic pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Vatican’s open-air Easter Sunday Mass. During this time, the pope condemned the “deplorable humanitarian situation” caused by Israel’s 18 months of war on the Palestinian territory. He also called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he made his way down to Saint Peter’s Square, riding through the crowds in the open-top Popemobile – the iconic white Mercedes-Benz used by popes to greet the faithful. Near the end of his final tour of the square, several children were lifted towards him. It would be the last time the world saw him alive. He died the next morning. Follow Al Jazeera English:...