Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff who alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88.

Francis, who suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14, 2025, for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He spent 38 days there, the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy.

But he emerged on Easter Sunday — his last public appearance, a day before his death — to greet ythousands of people in St. Peter’s Square and treat them to a surprise popemobile romp through the piazza, drawing wild cheers and applause. Beforehand, he met briefly with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics regularly publicly condemned Israel’s war on Gaza.

Throughout Israel’s war again Hamas, he made a daily phone call to the enclave’s only Catholic parish to offer support and prayers.

He resumed the practice while still hospitalized after making a partial recovery in February.

Francis frequently called Israel’s response to October 7th a “genocide” and called the IDF response “terror”.

In November os 2024, Sephardi Chief Rabbi David Yosef sharply criticized Pope Francis for suggesting that Israel’s actions in Gaza may constitute genocide, accusing the pontiff of siding with perpetrators of violence instead of victims. The remarks were made by the Pope in a forthcoming book.

“It’s very interesting that the Pope doesn’t call for an investigation of the terrible slaughter of Jews last year on October 7,” Rabbi Yosef said in a video statement. “It’s interesting that he doesn’t call for an investigation of the incitement against Jews across Europe, overt antisemitic incitement.”

Former Chief Rabbi David Lau also condemned Pope Francis in December of 2023 following remarks he made during a conversation with President Isaac Herzog that seemed to equate Israel’s actions in Gaza to Hamas’s atrocities.

Pope Francis said that it is “forbidden to respond to terror with terror.”

In 2017, YWN reported that a group of Jews led by Philanthropist Lazer Scheiner had a 45 minute audience with the pope. Rabbi Edgar Gluck discussed desecration of Jewish cemeteries. The Pope pledged to enact stronger rules against destroying Jewish cemeteries to build roads or homes.

Additionally, the group spoke about the need to create better unity between religious groups; and finally, the issue of abuse was brought up to which the Pope responded over and over “zero tolerance, zero tolerance. We need to keep kids safe”.

At the end of the meeting the group sang Shlomo Carlebach’s “אורך ימים” to which the pope began swaying to in a video that went viral.

His death now sets off a weekslong process of allowing people to pay their final respects, first for Vatican officials in the Santa Marta chapel and then in St. Peter’s for the general public, followed by a funeral and a conclave to elect a new pope.

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), convened his deep sorrow over the passing of Pope Francis.

According to a CER statement, Goldschmidt, who met with the pope several times, recalls “Francis’s unwavering dedication to promoting peace and goodwill worldwide.” The rabbi also praises the pope’s efforts to strengthen Catholic-Jewish relations.

The European Jewish Congress sent condolences to Catholics in Europe and around the world upon the passing of Pope Francis.

“Pope Francis was a steadfast advocate for interfaith dialogue and mutual respect between religions,” the representative organization of European Jewry says in a statement. “His unwavering commitment to combating antisemitism and fostering a spirit of brotherhood between Christians and Jews will be remembered with gratitude and admiration.”

“We have fond and enduring memories of our audiences with the late Pope and his deep commitment to fostering dialogue with Jewish communities and fierce opposition to antisemitism,” adds EJC Vice-President Raya Kalenova.

President Isaac Herzog offered his condolences to Christians around the globe and in Israel “on the loss of their great spiritual father, His Holiness Pope Francis.”

In a statement, Herzog calls Frances “a man of deep faith and boundless compassion,” and praises his dedication to the poor and to the cause of peace.

“He rightly saw great importance in fostering strong ties with the Jewish world and in advancing interfaith dialogue as a path toward greater understanding and mutual respect,” says Herzog, despite growing frustration among Jewish leaders over the pope’s statements on Israel and his use of problematic New Testament verses.

“I truly hope that his prayers for peace in the Middle East and for the safe return of the hostages will soon be answered,” says Herzog. “May his memory continue to inspire acts of kindness, unity, and hope.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)