Jubilee year sees death of pope, election of successor

Updated / Thursday, 25 Dec 2025 07:00 Newly-elected Pope Leo XIV addresses the crowd overlooking St Peter's Square on 8 May 2025 Ailbhe Conneely By Ailbhe Conneely Social Affairs & Religion Correspondent On Christmas Eve 2024, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica to mark a significant 12 months ahead in the Catholic Church. The Jubilee Year of Hope would be a chance for the Catholic faithful to embrace a new beginning, a commitment to love, renewal and service. While jubilee years are significant in the Catholic Church, 2025 was overshadowed by the death of one pope and the election of his successor. The early months of the year were marked by health challenges faced by Pope Francis. Reports of frailty and illness circulated widely after he was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital in February for the treatment of pneumonia. Many felt confident that the pontiff would return to the Vatican, however, doctors admitted subsequently that it was "touch and go" at times. After five weeks of hospitalisation, the 88-year-old resumed public duties in a limited capacity. Defying the advice of doctors who told him to take two months' rest to allow his body to heal, he spent his final day working. His last public appearance occurred on Easter Sunday, 25 April, at St Peter's Square. Visibly frail, he delivered the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing to those gathered. In a surprise move, he travelled around the square on the popemobile for what would be, a final time. Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the popemobile after Easter mass at St Peter's Square That evening, he thanked his nurse Massimiliano Strappetti for bringing him to St Peter's Square. At 5.30am the following morning, the first signs of a "sudden illness" occurred. A little more than an hour later, Pope Francis made a farewell gesture with his hand to Strappetti. "He did not suffer and it all happened fast," according to Vatican News. Pope Francis’s death on Easter Monday, during the Jubilee Year of Hope, intensified the symbolic resonance of his final weeks. Global reaction was immediate. Religious leaders, political figures, and lay Catholics expressed grief and admiration, highlighting his emphasis on mercy, social justice, and engagement with the marginalised. President Michael D Higgins led Irish tributes; noting the pope's "warmth" and "unique humility" he brought to the role. The two men had met on several occasions and had discussed global hunger, poverty, climate change and justice. The former president, his wife Sabina, Irish political representatives as well as Irish pilgrims, were among 250,000 people who paid their respects at St Peter’s Basilica where the pope lay in a simple casket, as requested. Not only did it function as a religious observance, the funeral was also a moment of global diplomatic convergence. Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky's meeting in St Peter's Basilica One of the most widely reported moments occurred on the margins, when US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were photographed in conversation...

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