Pope Francis didn’t affirm same-sex marriage or lobby for ordaining women as priests. But he gently steered the Catholic Church in a more progressive direction while leading with compassion, openness and humility.

When Pope Francis died the world lost not only the leader of the Catholic Church but also the first pontiff in history to take a stance on climate change.

Pope Francis had a close relationship with Gaza's tiny Christian community and used his last address to call for a ceasefire.

Pope Francis died on Monday, April 21, after being released from hospital on March 23, following a five-week stay which saw him struggle with double pneumonia and its various complications. He was 88.

Francis never gave an explicit answer for not returning as pontiff to his native country, but some experts say he worried about having his presence used for political purposes.

Guillermo Marco, spokesman for the pope when he was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, told Reuters it had been a "wasted opportunity" for Argentina. Francis, he said, had

Pope Francis, the second-oldest pope in modern history, has passed away at the age of 88, leaving behind a legacy of change in the Catholic Church.