Pope Francis, in Saint Peter Square in the Vatican, on April 20, 2025, on Easter Sunday. Photo: Iacobucci Marco / IPA / Abaca / Abaca Press / Profimedia
Among the last words of Pope Francis counted a thanks for his assistant, who helped the Sovereign Pontiff to capture the crowds of Saint Peter Square, on Easter Sunday, through a short tour in Papamobil, for the first time after Francisc had escaped the double penumon, who had tormented him for five weeks.
“Thank you for bringing me to the market,” Francis told his assistant, Massimiliano Strappetti, who gave him 24 hours care of the Pontiff, the Vatican's official press agency reported on Tuesday.
The Pope, 88, died on Monday after suffering a stroke and a cardiac arrest.
The Sovereign Pontiff spent 38 days in the hospital earlier this year, fighting with pneumonia, but returned to the Vatican almost a month ago and seemed to have recovered.
Francis, known for being forced to exhaustion, spent his last day working, thus defying the advice of the doctors who told him to rest for two months, for his aging body to heal.
About 35,000 Catholic believers were on Sunday on the corridors of Saint Peter Square in Rome, while Francis made a tour, located on a high chair inside the Papamobil.
There were the cheers of “Viva Il Pope” (live Pope, no) and the vehicle occasionally stopped for Francisc to bless the babies brought by the papal assistants.
The rest of the last Sunday of the Pope was normally spent, the Vatican Agency said. Francis had a “quiet dinner”, the source said. The first signs of a “sudden disease” appeared on Monday morning at 5:30 (03:30 GMT).
“Over an hour later, gesture goodbye to Strappetti (…) The Pontiff entered a coma,” the Vatican's news agency wrote. “He did not suffer, and everything happened very quickly,” she added.
The Vatican publication concluded that Francis died “after hugging people again after a long time.”
