Pope Francis, 88, who was recovering from double pneumonia, has died at his residence in Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican said. Despite his declining health, Pope Francis made a rare appearance in a wheelchair on Sunday. In his final message, he stressed the critical need for freedom and peace, urging the world to reflect on these values amid ongoing global conflicts.
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00:00Hi, good morning. This is Barbara Selye's live from Rome. We are, as you can see, at the Vatican City. We are in St. Peter's Square. This is the center, the heart of the Vatican.
00:16Today, everybody in Rome is coming to this square because the Pope, this morning, at 7.35 a.m. Rome time, passed away. It's actually, it's been a surprise for everybody. He had spent the past two months at the hospital, but he left just at the very, in the very last days of March.
00:40Everybody thought he was recovering. And in fact, yesterday, he was here for the Mass of Easter Sunday, the most important Mass for Catholics. He was here to give everybody the Urbi et Orbi, the benediction that is given by the Pope traditionally every Easter Sunday.
01:02We are with somebody who actually yesterday was here. And she's going to tell us how she saw him, why she's coming back today. Hold on. Give us a sec. Yes, here she is.
01:18Hi. Hi. So, your name is? My name is Emma. Hi. Hi, Emma. Could you tell us, you were here yesterday. What do you see and why are you here today again?
01:30Yeah, so I was here yesterday for Mass and I was about 10 feet from Pope Francis about 24 hours ago. So, I just felt moved when I woke up today and saw the news to come over here and just kind of be here for a little while.
01:42Are you a Catholic? What does it mean for you that a Pope is gone?
01:48Yes, I'm Catholic. Pope Francis was elected when I was in about third grade. And so, he's been the Pope since I kind of became like an adult Catholic. So, it means a lot. It was shocking this morning for sure. And I'm curious to see kind of what happens next and what direction the Catholic Church chooses to go in.
02:06Thank you so much for your time. So, as you can see, people from all over the world are coming here today and it won't be the only day, obviously, because when a Pope dies, it triggers a long process to have a new Pope re-elected.
02:26So, in the coming days, you will be seeing how cardinals and bishops from all over the world will be coming to Rome to gather first for the funerals, which actually will last for nine days, and then for the conclave, which is the process in which all the senior people in the Catholic Church get together
02:55and decides who is going to be the next head of the Vatican, who is going to be the next head of state of the Vatican. So, the next Pope. We will be live from Rome in the next few days as well. Thank you.
03:08So, we are in St. Peter Squares, among all the crowds that are gathering to worship the Pope who just passed away. And we are actually with an Indian family. They are from New York, but originally from India.
03:26And they are Catholics. They were here yesterday for the Urbi et Orbi benediction. And we are going to talk to them because, obviously, as they learn about what was happening, what had happened to the Pope, they rushed and came here this morning.
03:44Could you please tell us, what was your name? Stanley Jacob. You came yesterday. How did you see the Pope yesterday? We happened to be in the center of the square and he came by in the Popemobile after the Mass. So, we were about five to ten feet away from him as he passed by.
04:03He looked well or he looked weak? Hard to say. He was sitting there and waving, but obviously, he didn't look as vibrant and active as he usually does.
04:14And so, let me talk to, they are your parents. I gathered your parents. All right. So, what happened this morning when you learned about the Pope then?
04:30Around 7.30, my husband turned the telephone. He said, pardon.
04:37And the Pope's news this morning on CNBC. He couldn't believe. We are so lucky yesterday we came.