India, April 28 -- Our beloved Pope Francis, the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church, died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at 7.35 am Central European Summer Time (timezone used by Rome). The Catholic Diocese of Lucknow joins the Universal Church and the Global Community in mourning the loss of the 88-year-old Pontiff, who led the Catholic Church for 12 years from 2013 to 2025 in these challenging times.

When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit Cardinal from Argentina, was elected Pope on March 13, 2013, he took the name Francis, already indicating the direction the new Pope would lead the Church. He wanted the Church to be poor, simple, humble like St Francis of Assisi. He showed that by his own life of simplicity and humility. He ...