Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff dead at 88

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Pope Francis performed the blessing from the same loggia where he was introduced to the world on March 13, 2013 as the 266th pope. From his first greeting that night — a remarkably normal “Buonasera” (“Good evening”) — to his embrace of refugees and the downtrodden, Francis signaled a very different tone for the papacy, stressing humility over hubris for a Catholic Church beset by scandal and accusations of indifference.

After that rainy night, the Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio brought a breath of fresh air into a 2,000-year-old institution that had seen its influence wane during the troubled tenure of Pope Benedict XVI, whose surprise resignation led to Francis’ election.

Pope Francis is dead and the Conclave is being prepared to pick the next Pontifex Maximus to rule over the Holy Roman Empire

The world awoke to the news today that the Roman Catholic Pope Francis had died, and that the process of picking his replacement would soon begin within the next 15-20 days. The Roman Empire never fell, it simply transmogrified into the Roman Catholic Church, and its leader sits in the seat of the first Pontifex Maximus, Julius Caesar. There is a reason why it is called the Roman Catholic Church, because its foundations are rooted in the Roman Empire, and there’s about to be a revival. That’s the memo.

Pope Francis made his last public appearance on Easter Sunday a day before his death to bless thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, drawing wild cheers and applause.

Pope Francis bore two titles as he served his 12 years in the Roman Catholic Church, those of Pontifex Maximus and the Holy Father. The first title was that that was given to the Roman emperor Julius Caesar in 63 AD, and the second is actually one of the names for God the Father in John 17. Pope Francis was worshipped by 1.4 billion Catholics, lived as a god but died as a man. The question that everyone wants to answer today is, what will become of the Roman Catholic Church he created? That’s the memo.

“I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.” Psalm 82:6,7 (KJB)