Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and Latin American papal who guided the Catholic Church through a series of scandals, leadership reforms, and significant doctrine overhauls for more than a decade, has died, the Vatican reported early Monday morning. He was 88.

Black smoke billowed above the pope’s residence in the holy city, the traditional sign of a papal’s passing. A statement by Vatican leaders pointed to his groundbreaking work to reset the direction of the Roman Catholic Church, emphasizing inclusion and other progressive reforms that rankled purists who sparred with Pope Francis for most of his tenure.

“Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta,” read a simple statement by the Vatican on social media.

Just a day earlier, the pope had appeared in a wheelchair to give the annual Easter blessing at St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis began his tenure in 2013, inheriting a Vatican in the midst of upheaval after the sudden resignation of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a standard-bearer of conservatism in the Catholic Church. He moved almost immediately to shift the church’s focus toward inclusivity, famously refusing to denounce same sex marriage when asked early into his reign.

He was not shy about confronting the legacy of sexual abuse within the ranks of the church, apologizing on multiple occasions and appointing cardinals to spearhead investigatory purges within their ranks. By the latter half of his tenure, the church adopted a series of reforms intended to hold senior church leaders responsible for the priests under their authority, though without the transparency he initially promised.

Francis’s death came just hours after he met privately with Vice President J.D. Vance, who expressed gratitude for being one of the final guests to pay his respects before the pope’s passing.

“My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” Vance said in a statement. “I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful.”