Jamaine Punzalan

Faithful leave lighted candles next to a portrait of the late Pope Francis at the entrance of the Buenos Aires Cathedral on April 21, 2025. Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025, aged 88, a day after making a much hoped-for appearance at Saint Peter's Square on Easter Sunday, the Vatican said in a statement. Juan Mabromata, AFP

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1745288894146POPE ARGENTINA.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Faithful leave lighted candles next to a portrait of the late Pope Francis at the entrance of the Buenos Aires Cathedral on April 21, 2025. Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025, aged 88, a day after making a much hoped-for appearance at Saint Peter&#x27;s Square on Easter Sunday, the Vatican said in a statement. Juan Mabromata, AFP </span></span></span></div><p>Grief-stricken Argentines massed at Buenos Aires Cathedral and across the city Monday to collectively mourn the late pontiff, hero, defender of the marginalized, and one of their own: Pope Francis.</p><p>When news of the pope&#x27;s death emerged, street sweeper Javier Languenari was clearing early autumn leaves from the front of the neo-classical building, where the pontiff -- then known as Jorge Bergoglio -- served as archbishop for 15 years.</p><p>&quot;As Argentinians, we are orphaned,&quot; said the 53-year-old, shaking his head. &quot;He endured as much as he could.&quot;</p><p>The 88-year-old&#x27;s passing was not a surprise. He had spent 38 days hospitalized with pneumonia and appeared frail in what would be his farewell public appearance on Easter Sunday.</p><p>But the death of Latin America&#x27;s first pope -- the first non-European to hold the position in more than a millennium -- still hit hard.</p><p>At the cathedral door, a 78-year-old woman sat crying inconsolably as she held a plastic bowl to receive alms.</p><p>Others lit candles in quiet elegy. Early morning commuters stopped to cross themselves.</p><p>For many in perennially crisis-stricken Argentina, Pope Francis&#x27;s willingness to champion the poor, challenge governments and the church itself, and delight in everything from tango to football made him not just a religious guide, but a source of national pride.</p><p>Mourner Graciela Vilamia recalled seeing the pope receive the weeping mothers of those who disappeared during Argentina&#x27;s long and brutal dictatorship.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ve known him for 30 years,&quot; she said as if discussing a cherished friend.</p><p>In the stillness of the cathedral&#x27;s nave, mourners kneeled before a painting of the pontiff, while others wiped away tears or waited silently to receive communion.</p><p>Current archbishop Jorge Ignacio Garcia Cuerva led a mass in tribute to his predecessor, followed by a packed evening service at the Basilica San Jose de Flores, site of Bergoglio&#x27;s spiritual awakening.</p><p>&quot;There is sadness because loss overwhelms us, darkness. It&#x27;s night because we feel like orphans,&quot; he told the faithful.</p><p>&quot;But (Bergoglio&#x27;s) life and teaching continue to be a light, a beacon,&quot; he added.</p><p>&quot;The pope who put his foot down... always alerted us to our brothers on the side of the road,&quot; yet he was also &quot;the pope of joy,&quot; the archbishop said, to cries of &quot;Viva Francisco!&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;BE A LITTLE FRANCIS&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>In his final years, Pope Francis had often tussled with political leaders, including Argentina&#x27;s current libertarian president, Javier Milei.</p><p>But there was a rare sense of political unity Monday in what is still a deeply polarized nation.</p><p>&quot;Francis&#x27;s message was always for us to unite, to reach out to those most in need,&quot; said Agustin Hartridge, a 41-year-old lawyer.</p><p>&quot;That candle I lit is a tribute to all he taught us.&quot;</p><p>Milei, too, acknowledged that his political differences with the late pontiff &quot;today seem minor,&quot; as he prepared to decree seven days of national mourning.</p><p>Cuerva, the archbishop, recalled how Francis launched into effervescent sermons from the same cathedral, supporting the oppressed and the marginalized and causing successive governments to squirm.</p><p>&quot;Now we&#x27;re all going to have to be a little Francis, to be more merciful to one another,&quot; he urged.</p><p>As the day progressed, a small football altar materialized, complete with jersey and banners in the red and blue of San Lorenzo, the pope&#x27;s boyhood club. &quot;He has always been one of us,&quot; the club said Monday.</p><p>For the faithful and non-religious alike, a perceptible sense of solidarity and gratitude for a local man who became a global advocate for migrants and a pioneer in pushing for a more inclusive Catholicism.</p><p>&quot;For years I went to church, then I moved away because being gay wasn&#x27;t easy,&quot; Ana Aracama, a 22-year-old student, confided to AFP.</p><p>But Pope Francis &quot;made us feel like children of God again, not sinners doomed to hell for being born a little different,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;For me, Jorge is that... It has marked my life.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS: <iframe width="1250" height="703" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/thDW52RBWNQ" title="Who might succeed Pope Francis? | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><iframe width="1250" height="703" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8gow3nGBDWE" title="Bells toll in St. Peter&#x27;s Square to mark death of Pope Francis | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><iframe width="1250" height="703" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8BjCR9y2fC4" title="WATCH: Pope Francis makes brief Easter appearance, calls for Gaza ceasefire | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></strong></div>

<p>Grief-stricken Argentines massed at Buenos Aires Cathedral and across the city Monday to collectively mourn the late pontiff, hero, defender of the marginalized, and one of their own: Pope Francis.</p>

Grief-stricken Argentines massed at Buenos Aires Cathedral and across the city Monday to collectively mourn the late pontiff, hero, defender of the marginalized, and one of their own: Pope Francis.

'Like orphans': Argentina mourns loss of papal son

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'Like orphans': Argentina mourns loss of papal son

Agence France-Presse

Published April 22, 2025 10:33 AM PHT

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