Italian
The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, announced in a statement that at 9:47 this morning, His Eminence, Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, announced with sorrow the death of Pope Francis, with these words: “Dear brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Pope Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the Father’s house. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of God, One and Triune.”
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, upon hearing the news, declared: “It is a painful moment of great suffering for the entire Church. We entrust our beloved Pope Francis to the embrace of the Lord, with the certainty, as he himself has taught us, that ‘everything is revealed in mercy; everything is resolved in the merciful love of the Father.’ I ask all the Churches in Italy to ring the bells of the churches as a sign of mourning and to promote moments of personal and communal prayer, in communion with each other and with the universal Church.”
