Pope Francis, whose real name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, passed away on Monday at the age of 88 after a lengthy five-week hospital stay due to pneumonia. Fawning coverage of the Argentine Jesuit, the first Latin American pope, has dominated the corporate news cycle in most of the world since the bells tolled in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican to announce his death.
The mainstream media constantly explores the complexities of the papacy in the United States, where just 5% of the population considers themselves Catholic. The only way to understand this interest is in terms of politics and class.
After Joe Biden and Barack Obama paid their respects, US President Donald Trump declared that his first international journey of his second term would be to Rome on Saturday to attend the Pope’s funeral.
The Vatican has released images of Pope Francis in an open coffin. Severe bruising to his face is unmistakable.
Vatican says cause of death: ‘Cerebral stroke’.
According to Grok, cerebral strokes, do not typically manifest as external bruising on the skin. pic.twitter.com/mLhTG3tJ52— Marla Hohner (@marlahohner) April 22, 2025
Pope Francis has been proudly referred to by the media as the “Father of the poor,” the “Man of the people,” and the “Progressive Pope,” who seeks to apply a final layer of “democratic” and “modern” polish to the Catholic Church while endorsing the global ruling class’s shift to fascist and authoritarian forms of governance.
Trump made reference to the separation of church and state and declared, “We’re bringing religion back in America.” He even ordered the state and US flags to fly at half-mast nationwide.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy praised “the privilege of enjoying his friendship, his advice, his teachings.” Several leaders with sizable Catholic populations, like Lula da Silva of Brazil, Pedro Sánchez of Spain, and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines, proclaimed days of national mourning.
Pope Francis most recently condemned Trump’s plans for mass deportations as a breach of human dignity and chastised US Vice President JD Vance for asserting that these policies aligned with Catholic doctrine.
The Pope was considering migrant rights as a priority in his papacy, he was calling climate change a “moral crisis,” wanted to decriminalize the LGBTQ community and was aiming at other “progressive” gestures. However, he never really intended to change the primary character of the Catholic Church. As everyone knows their infamous teachings on same-sex marriage, abortion, and gender identity remain unchanged.
Elon Musk of Tesla, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook were among the members of today’s tech and financial elite. He hosted them in the nicest and most friendly way despite his portrayal of inequality as a “social disease.”
All these performative stances on environmental and social issues were actually aiming at regaining the popular credibility of the Catholic Church amid a historic drop in followers.
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) and Pope Francis in 2022. On the right Elon’s 4 sons. pic.twitter.com/0SPAPCmDxC
— Bella (@stockbella) April 22, 2025
Francis’s personal history illustrates the Catholic Church’s innate support for Nazism. As a key role in the Argentine church during the country’s “dirty war” (1976–1983), Pope Francis was accused by priests and lay workers of collaborating with the military dictatorship in efforts to “cleanse” the Church of leftist forces.
The Pope was even accused of failing to defend Jesuit priests Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics when they were abducted in 1976. He was also charged with refusing to fund their humanitarian work in the slums of Buenos Aires, which ultimately resulted in their incarceration.
He was accused of crimes against humanity.
Remember the dirty war in Argentina 1976-1983.
Those who backed him will be exposed.#IORhttps://t.co/mfWWH7OnfJhttps://t.co/gRsXIh9xLc pic.twitter.com/pwIQWkPvua
— Magnus Nilsson (@MagnusN11) April 21, 2025
Francis had no issue endorsing the Trump administration as it embraces political “disappearances” that resemble those of Latin American military juntas, including those of international students who have denounced the genocide in Gaza, regardless of his state of mind on Sunday.
That was one of the most significant things he would be known for, and it was his final significant official act during his meeting with Vance.
