Pope Francis’ final Holy Week in 2025 offered Catholics a moving witness of faith, suffering, and hope. Despite frailty following a long hospital stay, he made a surprise Holy Thursday visit to Rome’s Regina Coeli prison, greeting inmates and expressing solidarity with those on the margins.
Though absent from Good Friday and Holy Saturday liturgies, the pope appeared on Easter to deliver his final “urbi et orbi” blessing.
In a last act of closeness, he rode through St Peter’s Square in the popemobile, greeting the faithful. Hours later, he suffered a stroke and died peacefully on 21 April, 2025.
Months earlier, he had prayed to be spared prolonged suffering. After detailing his funeral arrangements in his autobiography, “Hope,” published in January 2025, he concluded with a simple yet poignant prayer.
“Though I know that He has already given me many blessings, I ask the Lord for just one more: Look after me, let it happen whenever You wish, but, as You know, I’m not very brave when it comes to physical pain. … So, please, don’t make me suffer too much,” he wrote.
For many Catholics, his quiet, serene death – marked by humility, courage and trust in God – stood as a final testament to the hope he proclaimed throughout his pontificate.
