The morning of April 21, 2025, will be remembered as one of those dates that transcend generations. Pope Francis, **the first Latin American, the first Jesuit, the pope of the poor and of mercy**, passed away at the age of 88 in his residence at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, in the heart of the Vatican. His departure marks the end of a papacy and the farewell to a global leader whose voice, for more than a decade, managed to address both believers and non-believers alike.
**An Argentine for the world**
**Jorge Mario Bergoglio**, son of Italian immigrants, born in Flores, Buenos Aires, brought to the Vatican the imprint of his land: simplicity, closeness, the street, the shared mate, the attentive gaze towards those who suffer. Although he never returned to Argentina as Pope — an absence that left deep wounds in his people — **Francisco was always present**. He was in every homily where he asked for "land, roof, and work." He was in his constant calls to care for the discarded of the system. **His Argentinian identity** never needed airplanes or ceremonies: it was tattooed in his way of being.
**The Pope of mercy**
If there was anything that defined Francis, it was his **obsession with mercy**. From his first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter's in 2013 — when he asked "pray for me" while bowing his head before the whole world — to his last messages, **his papacy was a hymn to compassion and forgiveness**. He championed a more humble Church, more open, less concerned with power, and more obsessed with healing wounds. "It is not lawful to look at another human being from above, except to help them get up," he often repeated. And that principle guided him in every gesture: washing the feet of refugees, embracing the sick, kneeling before victims of violence.
**Politics, power, and conscience**
**Francisco did not shy away from politics**. He understood that the Gospel is also played out in the structures of power. He spoke fearlessly against **corruption**, **labor exploitation**, **extreme nationalism**, **the idolatry of money**, and **environmental devastation**. He published *Laudato si'*, an urgent call to care for the Earth, which resonated at international conferences and forced political leaders to rethink their planetary responsibility. **A key mediator** in international conflicts, a proponent of historic diplomatic approaches — such as the thaw between Cuba and the United States — **Francisco played in the big leagues, but always from a logic of service and not domination**.
**Moments that are now history**
Francisco leaves images that will be studied for centuries:
- His first trip to Lampedusa to denounce the tragedy of migrants in the Mediterranean.
- His silent encounter in Nagasaki, crying out against nuclear arms.
- His gestures towards other religions, praying alongside Muslim and Jewish leaders.
- His visit to Iraq, defying war and terrorism to embrace a wounded people.
**What’s next?**
The death of Francisco now opens a process of profound mourning in the Catholic Church and among millions of people around the world. The period of **sede vacante** begins: the camerlengo has taken over the administrative reins, and in the coming weeks, a Conclave will be convened to elect his successor. But beyond the formalities, **the titanic task remains to ensure that his legacy does not dissolve into empty tributes**. The true homage will be to continue fighting for that “Church in exit” that he dreamed of. For that more fraternal humanity that he preached so much, even when cynicism and indifference seemed to prevail.
**An immense void**
Francisco **departed on Easter**, the celebration of new life for Christians. It may not be a minor detail: even in his death, he seems to want to remind us that **the last word is never death, but hope**. Today the whole world mourns him. Today the poor of the world have lost their strongest voice. Today Argentina sees the departure of its most universal son.
**But Francisco does not leave.
Francisco remains.
In every gesture, in every hug given to the one no one looks at, in every young person who dares to make a ruckus to change the world.**
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