Pope Francis was full of surprises and his dying was one of them. His death seemed certain in February when he was in Rome’s Gemelli hospital and suffering repeated crises in his breathing. Back then journalists were updating his obituary. But then, miraculously as it seemed, he rallied, and returned to the Vatican and to his spartan apartment in the Casa Sancta Marta. Yesterday, the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square cheered when he appeared on the balcony to bless them, though he looked, frankly, like a corpse. And then he surprised everyone by going through the square in his popemobile, not too frail to bless a little, alarmed-looking baby. It seemed like those who had written off Francis were, yet again, proved wrong, and he was rallying.
But then, quite unexpectedly, according to the Vatican, at 7.35 this morning he died, and “returned to the house of the Father” as the official statement had it. We had just got used to the narrative that he was regaining strength and then … he died. But that makes his efforts during Holy Week the more impressive.
