New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams ordered flags at metropolis buildings to be lowered to half-staff beginning Monday morning in tribute to Pope Francis after his passing.
The mayor launched an announcement on the pontiff’s dying: “It is with great sadness that I mourn with billions around the world after learning of the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis. As someone deeply connected to my faith and who represents a city of millions of Catholics, my visit to the Vatican to meet with and hear directly from Pope Francis last year was one of the most sacred and special moments of my life. Pope Francis led with kindness, grace, and faith as he helped build a better world and unite all people, regardless of their background. His decades of spreading peace and love will forever be remembered.”
The mayor ordered flags at metropolis buildings and stationary flagstaffs to be lowered to half-staff efficient instantly.
Bells tolled in church towers throughout Rome after the announcement, which was learn out by Cardinal Kevin Farrell from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, the place Francis, 88, had lived.
“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church,” stated Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, who takes cost after a pontiff’s dying.
Francis, who suffered from continual lung illness and had a part of one lung eliminated as a younger man, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14, 2025, for a respiratory disaster that developed into double pneumonia. He spent 38 days there, the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy.
He made his final public look on Easter Sunday — a day earlier than his dying — to bless hundreds of individuals in St. Peter’s Sq., drawing wild cheers and applause. Beforehand, he met briefly with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
Francis carried out the blessing from the identical loggia the place he was launched to the world on March 13, 2013 because the 266th pope.
From his first greeting that night time — a remarkably regular “Buonasera” (“Good evening”) — to his embrace of refugees and the downtrodden, Francis signaled a really totally different tone for the papacy, stressing humility over hubris for a Catholic Church beset by scandal and accusations of indifference.
After that wet night time, the Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio introduced a breath of contemporary air right into a 2,000-year-old establishment that had seen its affect wane throughout the troubled tenure of Pope Benedict XVI, whose shock resignation led to Francis’ election.
