President Donald Trump joked on Tuesday that his first choice to replace the late Pope Francis was &#8230; himself, a crack that was destined to inspire meltdowns from those who hate him the most.
Trump took a few questions from the press outside the White House as he marked the 100th day of his second term in office, and the topic turned to the imminent conclave during which the Catholic Church&#8217;s next leader will be chosen.
&#8220;Who do you want to see as the next Pope?&#8221; a reporter asked.
&#8220;As Pope?&#8221; Trump repeated before quipping, &#8220;I&#8217;d like to be Pope. That would be my number one choice.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;I&#8217;d like to be pope.&#8221; 🤣
&#8220;We have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who&#8217;s very good, so we&#8217;ll see what happens.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/WPdRPwHxP9">pic.twitter.com/WPdRPwHxP9</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917289085938590136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The reporters continued to talk, but were drowned out by the sound of Marine One in the background.
&#8220;No, I don&#8217;t know, I have no preference,&#8221; the president continued. &#8220;I must say we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who&#8217;s very good, so we&#8217;ll see what happens.&#8221;
Trump was likely referring to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, one of ten American cardinals who will participate in the conclave and vote on the next pontiff. Critics say that Dolan is a long shot for the church&#8217;s highest office himself, largely based on the perception that he is too American.
Some took Trump&#8217;s remark as a joke and responded in kind.
&#8220;Make Rome Great Again,&#8221; one said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Make Rome Great Again
— Jess Fields (@jessalanfields) <a href="https://twitter.com/jessalanfields/status/1917289220755833208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The Vatican has a chance to do the funniest thing,&#8221; another posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Vatican has a chance to do the funniest thing <a href="https://t.co/hf271V1EOL">https://t.co/hf271V1EOL</a>
— The Dank Knight 🦇 (@capeandcowell) <a href="https://twitter.com/capeandcowell/status/1917307476719833388?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;You&#8217;re not gonna convince me Trump saying &#8216;I’d like to be pope&#8217; isn’t funny,&#8221; said one.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Youre not gonna convince me Trump saying “I’d like to be pope” isn’t funny. 
<a href="https://t.co/6eh0qqi05u">pic.twitter.com/6eh0qqi05u</a>
— Timothy HJ Nerozzi (@TimothyNerozzi) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimothyNerozzi/status/1917310456328241166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
One posted before he even made the comment, &#8220;I feel like Donald Trump wearing this white hat is to remind us that the danger of him becoming pope is slim…*but it’s never zero.*&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I feel like Donald Trump wearing this white hat is to remind us that the danger of him becoming pope is slim…*but it’s never zero.* <a href="https://t.co/D7RbEsT1V0">pic.twitter.com/D7RbEsT1V0</a>
— Emily Zanotti 🦝 (@emzanotti) <a href="https://twitter.com/emzanotti/status/1916874695795769794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
But the critics were not amused.
&#8220;I think the prerequisite is &#8216;need to be able to go into a church without bursting into flames,'&#8221; one said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I think the prerequisite is &#8220;need to be able to go into a church without bursting into flames&#8221;
— TheGeekReborn (@thegeekreborn) <a href="https://twitter.com/thegeekreborn/status/1917294375803183233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Now he wants to be the next pope, God help us,&#8221; another added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Now he wants to be the next pope, God help us. <a href="https://t.co/1VChIzdagI">pic.twitter.com/1VChIzdagI</a>
— 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐎𝐌𝐒𝐀 | 🇪🇺🇫🇷🇵🇱🇺🇦 (@tweet4Anna_NAFO) <a href="https://twitter.com/tweet4Anna_NAFO/status/1917303304498848022?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Trump. Does. Not. Joke,&#8221; one claimed.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Trump. Does. Not. Joke.
— Janice Hough (@leftcoastbabe) <a href="https://twitter.com/leftcoastbabe/status/1917289577150308490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Isn&#8217;t he already considered the pope of white evangelicals?&#8221; another asked.
&#8220;Isn’t he already considered the pope of white evangelicals?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Isn’t he already considered the pope of white evangelicals?
— 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢 (@ChidiNwatu) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChidiNwatu/status/1917289977949389247?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

President And Mrs Trump Depart White House For Rome

Cue The Pearl-Clutchers: Trump Just Said He’d ‘Like To Be Pope’

Cue The Pearl-Clutchers: Trump Just Said He'd 'Like To Be Pope'

Catholic Church

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G.K. Chesterton <a href="https://www3.nd.edu/~afreddos/courses/43811/stfrancisproblem.htm">wrote</a> of St. Francis of Assisi, “But after all, this man was a man and not half a dozen men. What seems inconsistency to you did not seem inconsistency to him.”
We should keep this same principle in mind today as we continue to pray for the repose of Pope Francis’s soul — and assess what we can learn from his legacy, both good and bad.
Much like the great saint whom he chose as his namesake and clearly intended to emulate, Pope Francis confounded caricature and was often misunderstood. In his life, and especially over the course of his pontificate, this quality often led to confusion for the faithful. No doubt, that pattern of confusion will be one hallmark of Francis’s papacy.
If we hope to learn from the life of Pope Francis, however, we must start by rejecting the mainstream media’s depiction of him as a “liberal” pope. Since his death, the New York Times has been filled with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/opinion/pope-francis-gay-muddle.html'" target="_blank" rel="noopener">headlines</a> regarding his perspective on “LGBTQ people,” women deacons, or the Church’s teaching on birth control. But while these may be important issues to the opinion writers of the New York Times, they were not central to Pope Francis’s work.
A much better place to begin is, well, the beginning: those early years of the pontificate when an energetic and vigorous Pope Francis set out to reform the Vatican’s bureaucracy and put an emphasis on serving the poor and taking care of the sick.
<div id="attachment_913279" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-913279" class="size-large wp-image-913279" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-165118482-864x576.jpg" alt="VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - MARCH 31: Pope Francis embraces a boy prior to his first 'Urbi et Orbi' blessing from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica during Easter Mass on March 31, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Francis delivered his message to the gathered faithful from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in St. Peter's Square after his first Holy week as Pontiff. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-165118482-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-165118482-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-165118482-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-165118482.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Franco Origlia/Getty Images</div>
I will never forget when the Pope, in 2013, reached down and kissed a man suffering from neurofibromatosis, a rare disease which had left him disfigured with boils all over his head. And this was far from the only example. In his first year in the seat of St. Peter, Pope Francis made a point of <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/26889/pope-francis-to-offer-hope-by-washing-young-inmates-feet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">washing the feet</a> of 12 young people at a juvenile detention center, <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/27588/pope-francis-invites-homeless-to-dine-at-vatican" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inviting</a> 200 homeless people to dine at the Vatican, and living in a modest guest house rather than the Apostolic Palace.
With this radical humility, Pope Francis — the first Pope from the global South, where the Church continues to grow — reminded the decadent old continent that the cultural inheritance of Christendom is not in attending U.N. Conferences, but the corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the prisoners, bury the dead, and give alms to the poor.
Yet as much as Pope Francis loved the poor, he was not a humble Franciscan friar but a savvy Jesuit political operator whose initial attention to the corporal works of mercy — though never entirely lost — soon gave way to practical considerations about what would secure his power over the Church. And unfortunately, as he aged and became more entangled in the politics of the Vatican, Pope Francis became vulnerable to manipulation by his advisers as well as the media and indeed made many missteps that confused and divided his flock.
Examples abound. One week he would promote the blessing of “unions of persons of the same sex.” The next he would say that marriage will always be the union of one man and one woman. On one occasion, he declared that abortion was akin to “hiring a hitman,” while nevertheless appointing a pro-abortion economist to the Pontifical Academy for Life.
And because of his excessive reliance on the likes of Cardinal Blase Cupich — the radical progressive archbishop of Chicago whom he appropriately dubbed “the little woman” — Pope Francis was especially misguided in his approach to more conservative segments of the Church. He imposed serious restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, which is growing rapidly in the United States. And despite his frequent denunciation of “clericalism,” he upended, for no apparent reason, the constitution of Opus Dei, a prelature distinguished for promoting the role of the laity in the Church’s mission.
In short, rather than working with the young, vibrant, and faithful segments of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis attacked them, choosing instead to champion progressive prelates and priests like Father James Martin, a Jesuit who pushes the Catholic church to abandon the traditional definition of marriage.
<div id="attachment_720181" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-720181" class="size-large wp-image-720181" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-619464578-864x576.jpg" alt="MALMO, SWEDEN - OCTOBER 31: Pope Francis gives a speech during the 'Together in Hope' event at Malmo Arena on October 31, 2016 in Malmo, Sweden. The Pope is on 2 days visit attending Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration in Lund and Malmo. (Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-619464578-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-619464578-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-619464578-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-619464578.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Michael Campanella/Getty Images</div>
In spite of his own opposition to these groups, however, Pope Francis’s pontificate witnessed a surge of conservative young people converting to Catholicism, in America and around the world. This Easter, dioceses across the United States <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/news/easter-converts-2024-by-the-numbers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> 30%, 40%, 50%, and even 70% increases in the number of converts coming into the Church on Easter Vigil. Young people seeking stability and rootedness account for most of these conversions, and the same phenomenon is happening in <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263349/france-sees-record-10384-adult-baptisms-in-2025-45-percent-increase-as-young-catholics-lead-revival" target="_blank" rel="noopener">France</a> and <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263329/surge-in-adults-entering-church-in-england-this-easter-prompted-by-internet-tradition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">England</a>, where a <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263239/catholics-now-outnumber-anglicans-among-gen-z-in-the-uk-study-suggestshttps:/www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263239/catholics-now-outnumber-anglicans-among-gen-z-in-the-uk-study-suggests" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> shows that Gen Z Catholics now outnumber Anglicans two to one.
Amid this renewed interest in the Catholic Church, one of the great tragedies of Pope Francis’s papacy is that his misguided opposition to traditional religious communities and conservative political policies may have given many of these young Catholics the impression that a focus on serving the poor, feeding the hungry, and carrying out the other corporal works of mercy is somehow at odds with tradition and orthodoxy.
Let me be clear: this is not and never has been the case.
Christ tells his disciples in Matthew 25, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” The corporal works of mercy are essential for all Christians, regardless of denomination or political party. And beyond informing our personal faith, they also must guide our efforts to reclaim our institutions and restore our country.
Moreover, Pope Francis’s liberal posturing on things like the environment may obscure his urgent message to modernity. Consider the late Pope’s 2015 “global warming” encyclical, Laudato Si. While it did include entire sections on “pollution and climate change” which the liberal media fawned over and promoted, its deeper argument — that we have failed to “safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic human ecology” — was profoundly conservative and largely ignored.
In Laudato Si, Pope Francis beautifully lays out how a “technocratic paradigm” has led us to accept “every advance in technology with a view to profit, without concern for its potentially negative impact on human beings.” And in pursuit of this “unlimited human power,” he argues, we have undermined the various conditions that help us flourish: destroyed God’s majestic creation, contracepted our God-given gift to create life, and dishonored God’s plan for men and women to be different.
This message — not misguided one-off statements on airplane interviews or liberal media headlines about hot button political issues — is what we should take away from Pope Francis’s papacy.
Modernity, despite all its advances, has robbed us of many of the most basic spiritual and moral resources we need to flourish and be truly happy. To recover them, we don’t need complex coding or advanced AI, but rather, as Pope Francis sought to remind us, simply to follow the lessons Jesus taught us about serving our fellow man.
Much like the early parts of his pontificate, Pope Francis’s final days reflected this message.
On Sunday, the Pope’s last day on Earth, he met with Vice President JD Vance, squashing their public spat. He used his Easter message to make an appeal for peace in the world&#8217;s most war-torn regions. And finally, he made one last loop through St. Peter’s square, stopping several times to bless babies brought up to him and wish all his “brothers and sisters” a “Happy Easter.”
May he rest in peace, mixed legacy and all — and may his brother cardinals be inspired to choose a successor capable of combining Pope Francis’s initial emphasis on the corporal works with a steadfast commitment to tradition, both of which were sorely lacking in the final years of the Holy Father’s life.
* * *
Kevin Roberts is the President of The Heritage Foundation.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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What Can We Learn From Pope Francis?

Bible

Catholicism

Catholics

Christianity

Heritage Foundation

Liberals

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The Vatican

President Donald Trump sits down one-on-one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome and ramps up pressure on Putin. Hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the funeral of Pope Francis. And 100 days into Trump&#8217;s term, we ride along with ICE agents in Boston as they arrest criminal illegals.
It’s Monday, April 28, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. For the first time, Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today&#8217;s episode here:
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Of course, Morning Wire is still available wherever you get your podcasts. If you&#8217;d prefer to listen on the go, you can do so here:
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<h2>Vatican City Peace Talks, Canadian Elections</h2>
<div id="attachment_912765" style="width: 946px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-912765" class="size-large wp-image-912765" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Four-Way-Convo-936x576.jpg" alt="" width="936" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Four-Way-Convo-936x576.jpg 936w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Four-Way-Convo-300x185.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Four-Way-Convo-768x473.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Four-Way-Convo-1536x945.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Four-Way-Convo-2048x1260.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px" />(Photo by Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: President Trump traveled to Vatican City on Saturday for the first foreign trip of his new term, honoring Pope Francis and meeting face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders.
Before Pope Francis’s funeral began, Trump and Zelensky huddled with Britain&#8217;s Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica.  This was their first encounter since Zelensky’s contentious visit to the White House back in February, but this time there were no advisers, translators or video cameras. Zelensky called it a “very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic,” adding that he and Trump discussed a “full and unconditional ceasefire” and “reliable and lasting peace.”
Trump certainly seemed more pleased with Zelensky than before, writing on Truth Social that it was time for a high-level summit to “finish it off” — in his words, “most of the major points are agreed to.” Following that meeting, Trump also issued new warnings to Vladimir Putin. For months, Trump has been taking a more diplomatic approach with his Russian counterpart, but over the weekend the president took a rare public <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114404524335638236">shot</a> at Putin, writing on social media: “There [is] no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!” 
Last week, the White House threatened to abandon the peace talks if the two sides didn’t show more willingness to negotiate, and that seemed to get things moving. On Friday, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow for a three-hour meeting with Putin, which the Kremlin described as “constructive and quite useful” — in their words, the two sides had “narrowed differences.”
That same day, as a sign of their desire to make a deal, Ukraine reportedly sent the White House a new peace proposal that included a major concession — it would not demand all of its land back. In exchange, the Ukrainians are calling for guarantees of a U.S.-backed “European security contingent” to help preserve the peace. Ukraine also wants financial reparations paid for by frozen Russian assets in U.S. and European control.
Meanwhile: A snap election will determine the political future of Canada, and bilateral relations with the United States have been the leading issue. Former Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned after his poll numbers cratered – many felt his public sparring with Trump was the final nail in his coffin. Now, after two months in which Trump has threatened massive tariffs on Canada, and even floats the idea of acquiring the nation as the 51st U.S. state, the election has hinged on which party will stand up to Trump most effectively — to that point, 39% of Canadians say Trump was their top concern, that’s second behind only the cost of living. In the winter, it looked like Pierre Poilievre&#8217;s Conservative party would cruise to victory, but acting Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal party has surged in the polls on a promise to fight Trump. 
<h2>Pope Francis Laid To Rest</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-912777" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-Funeral-Screenshot-1020x576.jpg" alt="" width="1020" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-Funeral-Screenshot-1020x576.jpg 1020w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-Funeral-Screenshot-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-Funeral-Screenshot-768x434.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-Funeral-Screenshot-1536x868.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-Funeral-Screenshot-2048x1157.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px" /></div>
Topline: The world bid farewell to Pope Francis on Saturday. With world leaders, faithful Catholics, and mourners gathering in St. Peter’s Square to honor his legacy.
The atmosphere was one of reverence and profound emotion. An estimated 250,000 people filled the square and surrounding streets, with millions more watching worldwide to pay their respects. The funeral was a blend of ancient tradition and the simplicity Pope Francis championed. During his papacy, Francis chose to live in a simple guest house rather than the papal palace. He also lived without the internet, reading only one Italian newspaper a day, and vowed to give up television 30 years ago – he kept that vow until his death. His open wooden coffin, a departure from the elaborate triple-casket tradition, lay at ground level in St. Peter’s Basilica during three days of public viewing so he could be with the people rather than above them. He also chose to be buried in his old black shoes rather than the traditional elegant red shoes.
Saturday’s Mass was led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, whose homily called Francis “a pope among the people,” highlighting his warmth as the first pope from Latin America. He was also the first Jesuit pope. After the service, the coffin was carried in a modest procession to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where Francis was laid to rest.
The funeral was a significant diplomatic gathering, with 170 foreign dignitaries present, including dozens of heads of state. Among them were President Trump and first lady Melania Trump, Ukrainian President Zelensky, French President Macron, and Argentine President Javier Milei, representing Francis’ native country. European royalty, including Britain’s Prince William, Spain’s King Felipe VI, and Queen Letizia, also attended. The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi was seated prominently in the front row and praised Francis as a “symbol of human fraternity.” 
The College of Cardinals will begin the process of electing a new pope next month in a conclave held inside the Sistine Chapel. A conclave typically begins 15 to 20 days after the death of the previous pope, and only cardinals under the age of 80 can vote. There are currently 135 eligible cardinals, and their first meeting is scheduled for sometime between May 6 and May 11. A strict oath of secrecy is sworn by the cardinal electors, and they are not allowed to communicate with the outside world. When they&#8217;ve reached a two-thirds majority vote, they send a signal to the world with white smoke rising from the chapel.
<h2></h2>
<h2>A Look Into Immigration Enforcement</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-912785" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/ACTUAL-Morning-Wire-Ice-Story-4272025-1024x560.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="560" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/ACTUAL-Morning-Wire-Ice-Story-4272025-1024x560.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/ACTUAL-Morning-Wire-Ice-Story-4272025-300x164.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/ACTUAL-Morning-Wire-Ice-Story-4272025-768x420.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/ACTUAL-Morning-Wire-Ice-Story-4272025-1536x840.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/ACTUAL-Morning-Wire-Ice-Story-4272025-2048x1120.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: Since President Trump took office nearly 100 days ago, migrant encounters at the southern border have dropped dramatically, by as much as 95%.
Daily Wire reporter Kassy Akiva recently wrapped up a six-hour ride-along with national ICE Director Todd Lyons, where she joined agents from several other federal agencies, including the FBI, to arrest criminal illegal aliens in the Boston area. Director Lyons said while his team in Boston is highly effective, there are challenges in operating in a sanctuary jurisdiction – local governments essentially provide no help and often release criminal aliens on the street without giving ICE any warning.
“While ICE had five targets to arrest during our raid, only two were captured,” Akiva told Morning Wire. “While ICE surveils these criminals for days to determine the best way to approach them, sometimes things don’t go as planned. However, the two criminal aliens arrested while I was along for the operation are what Lyons describes as “the worst of the worst.” The first, a 55-year-old from El Salvador, Miguel Chauvez, is a convicted pedophile. The second, a 68-year-old, Jose Lazaro Ayalla, who was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving an injured person or death.

MorningWire-0428_v2

Morning Brief: Trump-Zelensky Sit Down, Pope Francis Funeral & ICE Ride-Along

Donald Trump

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Media

Morning Wire

Ukraine-Russia War

Volodymyr Zelensky

President Donald Trump and Ukraine&#8217;s President Volodymyr Zelensky met early Saturday in St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica at the Vatican to discuss peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
The last face-to-face meeting Trump had with Zelensky took place in February at the White House, and did not end well, with Trump saying Zelensky was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-cancels-meeting-sends-zelensky-packing-he-can-come-back-when-he-is-ready-for-peace" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not ready for peace talks</a>.
Trump and Zelensky met minutes before the start of Pope Francis&#8217; funeral, which took place at 10 a.m. Rome time and 4 a.m. Eastern. Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday, drawing leaders from around the world to Rome.
The meeting <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/26/europe/zelensky-trump-talks-pope-funeral-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> lasted about 15 minutes, and Trump and Zelensky will continue such talks. The meeting this go-around, according to both sides, went more smoothly than the last face-to-face.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Behind Scenes, Vatican City—President Trump sat down to meet privately with Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine this morning in St. Peter’s Basilica… <a href="https://t.co/zzC78AgbNh">pic.twitter.com/zzC78AgbNh</a>
— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scavino47/status/1916097251954278581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cm9y4ze6g00023b6mu3rvhrjv@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-article-gutter="true" data-analytics-observe="off">Zelensky said on X that they had a &#8220;good meeting&#8221; and thanked President Trump.
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cm9y4zifh00063b6mykc3w9nn@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-article-gutter="true" data-analytics-observe="off">“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered,” Zelensky wrote. “Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you [President Trump].”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Good meeting. We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to… <a href="https://t.co/q4ZhVXCjw0">pic.twitter.com/q4ZhVXCjw0</a>
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1916089502088524203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cm9y2sojk000c3b6mb0t99v0x@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-article-gutter="true" data-analytics-observe="off">A White House spokesman said the pair “met privately today and had a very productive discussion,&#8221; according to a CNN report.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Trump and Zelensky met in St. Peter’s Basilica for about 15 minutes (pictures per Team Zelensky) <a href="https://t.co/PP7iwK6qzi">pic.twitter.com/PP7iwK6qzi</a>
— Mathieu von Rohr (@mathieuvonrohr) <a href="https://twitter.com/mathieuvonrohr/status/1916069398537724361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
On Friday, Trump said Russia and Ukraine were “very close” to a peace deal, and called for top leadership of the countries to “finish it off.”
Trump made the comments on Truth Social just as he landed in Rome for Saturday&#8217;s funeral. On the same day, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/team-trump-arrives-in-russia-as-ukraine-hit-by-more-strikes-top-russian-general-assassinated?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Team+Trump+Arrives+In+Russia+As+Ukraine+Hit+By+More+Strikes%2C+Top+Russian+General+Assassinated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrived</a> in Moscow to speak with President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials and push for a peace deal.
“Just landed in Rome. A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine,&#8221; the president said. &#8220;They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off.’ Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Nothing like some tough diplomacy in one of the most beautiful places in the world. <a href="https://t.co/v23MhfVoBJ">pic.twitter.com/v23MhfVoBJ</a>
— Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelgwaltz/status/1916105166484316187?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
Trump also said earlier on Friday that Zelensky needs to sign a mineral deal with the United States, saying that he was “at least three weeks late.”
“Ukraine, headed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not signed the final papers on the very important Rare Earths Deal with the United States,” Trump posted online. “It is at least three weeks late. Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY. Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly. SUCCESS seems to be in the future!”
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-lands-in-to-rome-for-pope-francis-funeral-heres-what-to-expect?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Mairead+Elordi&amp;category=News+and+Analysis&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Lands+In+Rome+For+Pope+Francis%E2%80%99+Funeral.+Here%E2%80%99s+What+To+Expect." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump Lands In Rome For Pope Francis’ Funeral. Here’s What To Expect.</a>

Funeral Takes Place For Pope Francis

Trump Meets With Zelensky At Vatican Ahead Of Pope’s Funeral: ‘Very Productive’

Global Politics

Italy

Vatican

World

President Donald Trump has arrived in Rome, where he will attend Pope Francis&#8217; funeral Saturday morning in Vatican City, marking the first foreign trip of his second term.
The funeral comes six days after Francis passed away, the day after Easter, dying at age 88 of a stroke and heart failure after a battle with pneumonia. Since then, tens of thousands of people have come to pay their respects to the late pope as he lay in state at St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump arrived in Rome late Friday night. They will depart early Saturday afternoon after attending the funeral.
Previous Papal Funerals
Trump is only the second sitting president to attend a papal funeral. The first was George W. Bush, who attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005. President Joe Biden did not attend the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in 2023, despite <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/photos-and-video/photo/2011/06/vice-president-biden-pope" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting</a> the former pope as vice president years earlier. Benedict died nine years after resigning as pope in 2013, an unusual move for a modern pope. He was succeeded by Francis.
Photos from that visit show three presidents, Bush, his father, President George H.W. Bush, and President Bill Clinton kneeling in the first pew behind Pope John Paul II&#8217;s body lying in state. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and First Lady Laura Bush kneel near them.
<div id="attachment_912385" style="width: 446px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-912385" class=" wp-image-912385" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-52596002-300x181.jpg" alt="" width="436" height="263" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-52596002-300x181.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-52596002-953x576.jpg 953w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-52596002-768x464.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-52596002.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 436px) 100vw, 436px" />(TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Who Else Will Be There?
Trump met with Pope Francis at the Vatican during his first term in 2017.
Biden met Francis twice: first as vice president in 2016, and during his presidency in 2021. Biden and former first lady Jill Biden will also travel to the Vatican to <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/3389950/trump-biden-pope-francis-funeral/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attend</a> Francis&#8217; funeral.
<div id="attachment_912389" style="width: 408px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-912389" class=" wp-image-912389" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2156863278-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="398" height="265" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2156863278-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2156863278-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2156863278-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2156863278.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 398px) 100vw, 398px" />(TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
<div id="attachment_912391" style="width: 406px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-912391" class=" wp-image-912391" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-480808665-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="396" height="264" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-480808665-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-480808665-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-480808665-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-480808665.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px" />(Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Neither former President Barack Obama nor former President George W. Bush will attend Pope Francis&#8217; funeral. Obama hosted Francis at the White House in 2015, marking the first papal visit to the United States since Pope Benedict in 2008. Francis was only the third pope ever to visit the White House.
Other world leaders who will attend the pope&#8217;s funeral include Javier Milei, president of Francis&#8217; birthplace, Argentina; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prince William; French President Emmanuel Macron; and Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
As many as 200,000 people are expected to attend the funeral, the Italian government said.
How The Funeral Will Go
The funeral will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday morning local time, which is 4 a.m. Eastern time in the United States.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re will preside over the funeral Mass and deliver the homily, the Vatican said. He is the dean of the College of Cardinals, which will form a conclave next month to install the next pope.
On Friday night, Francis&#8217; coffin was <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/pope-francis-coffin-rite-sealing-funeral-mass-novemdiales.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set</a> to be sealed in a ceremony and closed to the public.
On Saturday morning, the funeral will begin with a procession in St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica, where the coffin will then be brought and set down. The funeral Mass will follow.
The cardinals who attend will be recognizable by their purple liturgical garments, the Vatican <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/the-funeral-celebration-of-pope-francis-on-saturday.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
After Mass, the funeral procession will slowly make its way to the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, a little over two miles away, where Francis frequently went to pray before an icon of Mary. Francis is the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in over a century. Many popes are buried in the underground crypt beneath St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica.
&#8220;The coffin will be welcomed by &#8216;the last ones,&#8217; a group of poor and marginalized people who always had a special place in Pope Francis&#8217; heart,&#8221; the Vatican said. &#8220;They will be the ones to give the final tribute before the coffin is carried to the altar of Saint Mary Major.&#8221;
The burial will be private and is expected to end around 2:00 p.m. local time or 8:00 a.m. Eastern time.
The last funeral for a sitting pope, John Paul II, was three hours long. Francis&#8217; funeral looks like it will be even longer, around four hours.
The faithful may begin visiting Francis&#8217; tomb on Sunday, the day after the funeral, the Vatican said.
The funeral kicks off nine days of mourning for the late pope, with Mass each day before the cardinals begin their work to select a new occupant of the Chair of Peter.
How Is Francis&#8217; Funeral Different?
Francis&#8217; funeral will look different from his predecessors. That&#8217;s because he himself changed the rules for papal funerals.
Francis will be buried in just one wooden coffin lined with zinc rather than the three coffins some other popes were buried in, which were made of cypress, lead, and oak.
The late pontiff will also be <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5374984/pope-francis-funeral-how-to-watch">buried</a> at the Basilica of St. Mary Major instead of St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica, the first pope in more than 350 years to be buried there since Clement IX.
Francis said in his autobiography published last year that a pope should be buried &#8220;with dignity, but like any Christian, because the bishop of Rome is a pastor and a disciple, not a powerful man of this world.&#8221; He also asked that his tomb be &#8220;in the ground; simple, without particular decoration, and with the sole inscription: Franciscus.&#8221;
Where To Watch
The Vatican News&#8217; YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@VaticanNews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">channel</a> will livestream the funeral and procession to the burial place.
A number of other news outlets and streaming services also plan to livestream the funeral.

U.S. President Donald Trump in Vatican

Trump Lands In Rome For Pope Francis’ Funeral. Here’s What To Expect.

Here's What To Expect As Trump Attends Pope Francis' Funeral Today

Catholic

Mourners waiting in line to view the body of Pope Francis as he lies in state inside St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica are complaining about the number of people taking selfies.
The Bishop of Rome passed away on Monday morning, as the Vatican announced, following a prolonged period of poor health. Pope Francis was 88 years old at the time of his death.
Vatican officials released photos of Francis in his velvet-lined coffin on Tuesday. The Holy Father is laid out wearing a red robe with the papal mitre on his head and a rosary intertwined in his hands.
“What did surprise me is the fact that earlier we were told no photos in the Sistine Chapel and here people were getting their phone out and doing selfies with the coffin,” one mourner <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14642673/The-faithful-queueing-selfie-popes-corpse-Mourners-wait-eight-hours-pose-pontiff.html">told</a> the Daily Mail. “I did think that was a bit in poor taste and I’m surprised no one stopped them.”
“I was very moved coming so close to Pope Francis, but it was awful seeing so many people taking pictures,&#8221; another person told The Sun.
“I found the mobile phones very distasteful,” another mourner <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/24/world-news/disrespectful-mourners-taking-selfies-with-dead-pope-spark-outrage/">said</a>. “I was very surprised there were photos.”
While photos of the deceased pope are not technically prohibited, many of the thousands of mourners are saying the practice of taking selfies with cell phones or even using selfie sticks is in poor taste. Visitors to St. Peter’s Basilica said sometimes security intervened to stop the photo takers, but other times they did not.
The last time a pope died in office was Pope John Paul II in 2005, before selfies and cell phone cameras were commonplace. The pope who served before Francis, Pope Benedict, resigned voluntarily in 2013 due to stated reasons of advanced age and declining health. He died in 2022.
The Vatican stated that around 50,000 people have lined up to view the body of Pope Francis. They are standing in line for up to eight hours to get a chance to see the Holy Father before his burial this weekend.
Large crowds are expected on Saturday for Pope Francis’ funeral in St. Peter&#8217;s Square. Some famous attendees are expected to include President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Prince William, heir to the British throne.
Per the late pope&#8217;s wishes, Francis will be buried at the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome, which is a departure from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/funeral-for-pope-francis-will-deviate-from-tradition">tradition</a>. Popes have typically been laid to rest in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica, but the late pope opted to be interred at St. Mary Major due to the “very strong” connection he had there.

Mourners Complain After Some People Taking Selfies With Late Pope Francis

Death

Rome

Vice President JD Vance refused to politicize the death of Pope Francis as he spoke with reporters on Wednesday, arguing that the pope was a &#8220;great Christian pastor.&#8221;
The vice president said he was saddened by the pope&#8217;s death as he spoke with reporters in Agra, India, acknowledging that he was one of the last people to meet with the pontiff, but saying he had no idea that Pope Francis had less than 24 hours left on earth when the two met in Rome on Sunday.
In his last Easter address, Pope Francis <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/urbi/documents/20250420-urbi-et-orbi-pasqua.html">condemned</a> “how much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants&#8221; and warned against leaders who “yield to the logic of fear.&#8221; The late pontiff <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/deportation-schism-why-leftist-catholics-are-at-odds-with-churchs-long-standing-view-on-immigration">also pushed back against</a> President Donald Trump&#8217;s deportation plans ahead of the president&#8217;s inauguration.
&#8220;I appeal to all those in positions of political responsibility in our world not to yield to the logic of fear which only leads to isolation from others, but rather to use the resources available to help the needy, to fight hunger and to encourage initiatives that promote development,&#8221; the pope said in his final address. &#8220;These are the &#8216;weapons&#8217; of peace: weapons that build the future, instead of sowing seeds of death!&#8221;
&#8220;A lot of people, especially in the American press want to make the Holy Father, his entire legacy, and even his death, about American politics,&#8221; Vance told reporters on Wednesday. &#8220;I think he was obviously a much broader figure than the United States of America, he represents over a billion Catholics worldwide.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_911205" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vance-refuses-to-politicize-pope-francis-death-not-going-to-soil-the-mans-legacy/u-s-vice-president-vance-visits-italy-and-india-4" rel="attachment wp-att-911205"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-911205" class="wp-image-911205 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211102876-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211102876-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211102876-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211102876-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211102876.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Vice President JD Vance and Pope Francis. (Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he added, &#8220;I&#8217;m aware that he had some disagreements with some of the policies of our administration. He also had a lot of agreements with the policies of our administration. I&#8217;m not going to soil the man&#8217;s legacy by talking about politics. I think he was a great Christian pastor, and that&#8217;s how I choose to remember the Holy Father.&#8221;
Asked if he would like to see the next pope continue in Pope Francis&#8217; tradition, he laughed and responded, &#8220;I won&#8217;t pretend to give guidance to the cardinals on who they should select as the next pope. We have plenty of issues to focus on in the United States. I&#8217;ll just say a prayer for wisdom, because I obviously want them to pick the right person. I want them to pick someone who will be good for the world&#8217;s Catholics, but I&#8217;ll let them make that decision.&#8221;
President Donald Trump announced on Monday in a Truth Social post that he will attend the funeral of Pope Francis,  &#8220;Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome. We look forward to being there!” The president will depart the United States for Rome on Friday afternoon.
His announcement came after he ordered federal and state flags to fly at half-staff in memory of Pope Francis.
“As a mark of respect for the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114376655236734018">wrote in a separate post</a>.
He added: “I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.”

U.S. Vice President Vance Visits Italy And India

Vance Refuses To Politicize Pope Francis’ Death: ‘Not Going To Soil The Man’s Legacy’

JD Vance

As we lay to rest <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pope-francis">Pope Francis</a>, a man entrusted with the astonishing task of leading <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262883/worldwide-catholic-population-hits-14-billion#:~:text=Concretely%2C%20there%20has%20been%20a,to%20281%20million%20in%202023." target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.4 billion</a> Catholics worldwide, we must acknowledge that he was a pope who inspired devotion and yet also disillusionment.
The first non-European pope in over a millennium, the first Jesuit to hold the Chair of Peter, and the first to take the name Francis — after the saint of humility and radical poverty — he came to the papacy with the power of symbolism already at his side. But symbols alone do not make a legacy. His pontificate has been marked by deep paradoxes, extraordinary global events, and the unrelenting scrutiny of a digital age that magnifies every gesture, every silence, and every word into global significance.
Pope Francis led the Catholic Church at a time when questions of identity, history, and moral authority were being fiercely renegotiated across every sphere of public life. From the rise of “woke” ideology and the deconstruction of long-standing societal structures, to the counter currents of cultural revivalism and nationalist pushback, the world around the Church was changing — faster and more fundamentally than ever.
To that world, he showed incredible, compelling pastoral sensibility by embracing the very sick, the downtrodden, before the eyes of the world, making him a beloved figure among so many.
No moment captured the spiritual loneliness and universal leadership of Francis more than the evening of March 27, 2020. As the world reeled from the shock of a global pandemic, Francis <a href="https://catholicvote.org/when-pope-francis-became-a-solitary-beacon-of-hope-during-the-worst-days-of-the-covid-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stood utterly alone</a> in the rain-drenched emptiness of St. Peter’s Square. His solitary figure, small under the weight of a sodden white cassock, illuminated by the flickering torches before the Eucharist, became an icon of global grief — and hope. He did not thunder. He prayed. He did not offer a solution. He stood there in the silence of that unforgettable moment.
<div id="attachment_911243" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-911243" class="size-large wp-image-911243" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-23-Apr-2025-11-10-AM-5561-1024x576.jpg" alt="Pope Francis gives an extraordianry urbi et orbi blessing in St. Peter's Square, March 27, 2020. | Credit: Vatican Media" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-23-Apr-2025-11-10-AM-5561-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-23-Apr-2025-11-10-AM-5561-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-23-Apr-2025-11-10-AM-5561-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-23-Apr-2025-11-10-AM-5561-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-23-Apr-2025-11-10-AM-5561-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Vatican Media</div>
Yet while he insisted Church doctrine could not and would not be changed, many weary Catholics saw how he loosened the uniquely stalwart position of the Catholic church on issues related to marriage and family. 
On one hand, he condemned abortion, equating it to <a href="https://catholicvote.org/throughout-his-pontificate-a-look-at-pope-francis-statements-on-abortion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;hiring a hitman&#8221;</a> and <a href="https://catholicvote.org/pope-francis-strongly-warned-against-ideological-colonization-gender/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denounced gender ideology</a>; but more than once he gave a <a href="https://catholicvote.org/pope-francis-writes-preface-fr-james-martins-book-about-lazarus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disturbing nod</a> to ministries aimed at changing Church doctrine over gay &#8220;marriage&#8221; and transgenderism, including his brief <a href="https://outreach.faith/2022/05/pope-francis-speaks-to-lgbtq-catholics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exchange</a> with Father James Martin, the founder of the LGBT Catholic ministry, Outreach.
Pope Francis’ handling of clerical sex abuse was also marked by troubling contradictions. On one hand, he <a href="https://www.usccb.org/news/2023/pope-issues-updated-vos-estis-text-handling-abuse-cases" target="_blank" rel="noopener">established clearer procedures</a> for investigating abuse and holding bishops accountable and publicly condemned the culture of cover-ups that protected abusers. On the other hand, his actions in high-profile cases like those of <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/cna/father-marko-rupnik-accused-of-abuse-and-returned-to-ministry-a-timeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fr. Marko Rupnik</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/04/argentine-catholic-bishop-gustavo-zanchetta-sentenced-sexual-abuse-pope-francis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta</a> raise serious questions about consistency and impartiality.
Perhaps more than any other pontiff before him, Pope Francis lived his entire papacy inside the glass house of modern social media. Every homily, every off-the-cuff remark, and even every carefully crafted document was instantly dissected by millions across ideological, religious, and national divides, though it was often his informality in communication that blurred clarity, allowing ideologues across the spectrum to weaponize his words.
In the echo chambers of the internet, he was often cast simultaneously as a reformer and a betrayer, a prophet and a populist, a revolutionary and a regressive. The speed with which opinions formed around his leadership was unprecedented — and sometimes uncharitable.
In his many interviews and press conferences that often required follow-ups or clarifications, it is clear that he perceived himself as a pope who stood at the crossroads of history amidst the noise of clashing narratives.
In many ways, his legacy will be as divided as his papacy. To his supporters, he will be the “Pope of the Peripheries,” to his critics, the Pope of Ambiguity, leaving behind a trail of confusion and even division that his successor in the papacy will have to deal with.
Francis reminded us that the Pope is both a man and a sign — fragile, flawed, and beloved. We now pray not only for his soul but for the Church he leaves behind: wounded in places and always in need of shepherds who speak with both his tenderness but also with the clarity of truth.
* * *
Kelsey Reinhardt is Director of Media and Evangelization for CatholicVote.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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The Pope Of The Peripheries And Of Paradox

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The first photos of Pope Francis in his casket were released on Tuesday, as the Vatican announced the pontiff&#8217;s funeral for Saturday.
The images released by the Vatican show the pontiff lying in a wooden casket wearing traditional red vestments and his bishop&#8217;s miter, with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/first-photos-released-pope-francis-his-casket-funeral-set-saturday">praying</a> over his body.
Francis was placed in the casket Monday night in the chapel of the Vatican&#8217;s Casa Santa Marta by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, operating as the acting head of the church until a new pope is selected.
<div id="attachment_910751" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-910751" class="wp-image-910751 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211383735-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211383735-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211383735-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211383735-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211383735-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211383735-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211383735-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211383735-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images</div>
Catholics can <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/04/22/250422a.html">begin</a> paying their respects starting Wednesday, when the casket is brought into St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica.
Cardinals met on Tuesday to establish the next steps, <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/04/22/250422b.html">setting</a> the funeral for 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Peter&#8217;s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. President Trump said he plans to attend the funeral with the first lady, as dozens of other world leaders have also confirmed their attendance.
Francis, who was 88, died Monday morning of a cerebral stroke followed by a coma and ultimately “irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse,” according to the Vatican.
The pope had been in and out of the hospital for two months prior to his death, battling various respiratory illnesses necessitating a constant flow of supplemental oxygen and at least one emergency blood transfusion, per the New York Post.
<div id="attachment_910757" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-910757" class="size-large wp-image-910757" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211382949-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211382949-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211382949-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211382949-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211382949-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211382949-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211382949-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211382949-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images</div>
In his final will, Francis wished to be buried at St. Mary Major Basilica, located outside the Vatican, breaking with the tradition of papal burials at St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica.
Pope Francis was the first pontiff from the Americas and the first Jesuit pope in the Church&#8217;s history, serving during a period of significant challenges for the Catholic Church.
His death marks the end of a controversial era and sets the stage for what many religious conservatives hope will be a return to more traditional Catholic leadership.
A conclave to elect the next pope must begin between 15 and 20 days after Francis&#8217;s death, according to Church law.
During this period, Cardinal Farrell will oversee the Vatican&#8217;s administration and the conclave of 135 cardinals under the age of 80 who are eligible to vote in the secretive process of selecting the 267th pontiff.
&#8220;He gave himself to the end,&#8221; said Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of the Italian bishops&#8217; conference and a possible candidate to be the next pope. &#8220;To go out to meet everyone, speak to everyone, teach us to speak to everyone, to bless everyone.&#8221;

Pope Francis Dies At Easter

Vatican Releases First Photos Of Pope Francis In Casket

Pope Francis passes away just one day after delivering an Easter message to millions of Christian faithful. It will be days before the church picks a new pontiff, but some favorites have already emerged. And, with Republicans in control of D.C., Democrats are searching for a strategy and a leader to pull them out of the political abyss.
It’s Tuesday, April 22, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>Pope Francis’ Legacy</h2>
<div id="attachment_910567" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-910567" class="size-large wp-image-910567" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-1-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-1-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Pope-Francis-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Pope Francis, the 266th head of the Catholic Church, died Monday at the age of 88. His death marks the end of a transformative and, at times, polarizing papacy.
Pope Francis will likely be remembered as a progressive reformer. In 2013, shortly after he was elected, he made his famously controversial statement about gay priests, “Who am I to judge?” His 2015 encyclical called for environmental action, and he continually urged world leaders to address climate change. During his last Easter address on Sunday, after meeting with Vice President JD Vance, he warned against politicians stirring up “anti-migrant” sentiments.
But his papacy wasn’t as transformative as many theological progressives would have liked. Francis did endorse civil unions for same-sex couples, which was a historic move for a pope, and approved a document saying priests could “bless” gay couples. But he also upheld the Church’s stance that marriage is between a man and a woman. He also refused to approve the use of contraception and ordaining women, and was staunchly pro-life.
Francis took steps to curb the influence of conservative prelates who viewed his reforms as a threat to Church tradition. In 2014, he removed conservative cardinals like Raymond Burke, a vocal critic, from a key Vatican post. He also appointed more moderate or progressive bishops to various roles of authority and elevated like-minded clerics to the College of Cardinals. Because of this, critics accused him of stacking the deck and stifling dissent.
“He was really progressive,” Robert Sirico, former president of the conservative Acton Institute, told Morning Wire. “People call him a Marxist. They don&#8217;t think he was a Marxist. He certainly wasn&#8217;t a free market kind of guy, the way John Paul was. But on the other hand, I think he profoundly misunderstood the United States on a very visceral level, and I think that is owing to his Argentinian background.”
Despite possibly being the most progressive pope in history, Francis’ tenure saw a resurgence of conservative Catholicism, especially among young believers. Last year, we reported on the surge in Catholic conversions among young people in New York City. However, there is also evidence that this trend is happening in Europe. According to the Bishops’ Conference of France, more than 10,000 adults were baptized into the Roman Catholic Church on Easter Sunday – mostly young adults between the ages of 18 and 25. Something similar is happening in England, where surveys now show that Catholics outnumber Anglicans by more than two to one among Gen Z and younger millennials. These younger people, particularly young men, are <a href="https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/best-of-the-week/honorable-mention/2024/americas-catholic-church-seeing-shift-toward-more-conservative-ways/">being especially drawn</a> to more conservative expressions of faith.
<h2>The Next Pope</h2>
<div id="attachment_910565" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-910565" class="size-large wp-image-910565" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Conclave-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Conclave-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Conclave-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Conclave-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Conclave-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Conclave-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Conclave-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Conclave-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Speculation is already swirling about who will become the next head of the Catholic Church.
When a pope dies, eligible cardinals convene a papal conclave, where they cast ballots for the next pope. Famously, white smoke appears from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney when a new pope is elected, and a cardinal comes out to announce the new pope to cheering crowds in St. Peter’s Square. Usually, one of the cardinals is elected the next pope, and the big question on many Catholics’ minds is whether the new pope will lean conservative or progressive on controversial issues.
One of the more conservative candidates being discussed as a possible successor is Cardinal Robert Sarah, 79, an African cardinal from Guinea who has been an outspoken critic of Francis.
“The Church is not a social organization to meet [the] problem of migration or poverty,” Sarah <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG0YSN7LeAM">said</a>, in response to Pope Francis’s stance on immigration policy. “The Church is a divine purpose to save the world.”
Sarah was critical of Francis’ restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass and his statement on blessings for same-sex couples.
Cardinal Wim Eijk, 71, is also considered a conservative potential successor. Eijk is a former medical doctor from the Netherlands – and he’s been a sharp critic of Francis. He is one of the authors of a 2015 document opposing the pope’s approval of civil remarriages among people who have not received an annulment, <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/02/18/world-news/who-are-the-frontrunners-to-be-elected-next-pontiff-after-pope-francis/">calling</a> them “a form of structured and institutionalized adultery.” Eijk also <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/blog/cardinal-eijk-pope-francis-needed-to-give-clarity-on-intercommunion">criticized</a> Francis for giving what he called a “completely incomprehensible” response to a German Bishops’ Conference proposal on allowing Protestants to receive the Eucharist.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, 77, is another conservative from Sri Lanka. He criticized bishops who did not obey Pope Benedict on allowing the Latin Mass.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, 76, is one of the few potential successors from the United States. Burke has criticized the Church’s more liberal language under Francis, and he said that Catholic politicians who support legal abortion, like former President Joe Biden, should not receive the Eucharist.
A number of more progressive and politically moderate candidates are also likely to take the reins of the Church.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, who’s been <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151124125431/http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/01/15/manila-cardinal-luis-tagle-the-asian-pope-francis/">called</a> the “Asian Pope Francis” and would likely continue Francis’ more left-leaning stances. Tagle has defended the Church’s teachings on abortion and contraception, but he has also criticized the Church for using “harsh words” for LGBT people and divorced and remarried Catholics.
Another more progressive cardinal in the running is the French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, 66, who was reportedly Francis’ “favorite” to succeed him and is well-liked in left-wing circles.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, is an Italian cardinal who has been in the Holy See’s diplomatic service since the 1980s, is considered a political moderate and has played a role in many political issues, including moderating 2014 talks between Cuban and American officials, asking the United States to find an “adequate humanitarian solution” for Guantanamo Bay prisoners, and urging countries to implement the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
<h2>Democrats Tilt Left As They Search For A Standard Bearer</h2>
<div id="attachment_910569" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-910569" class="size-large wp-image-910569" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberal-Tilt-Graphic-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberal-Tilt-Graphic-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberal-Tilt-Graphic-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberal-Tilt-Graphic-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberal-Tilt-Graphic-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberal-Tilt-Graphic-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberal-Tilt-Graphic-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberal-Tilt-Graphic-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Gajus via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: As President Donald Trump approaches his 100th day in office, Democrats are still searching for a message — and messenger — to lead their party.
Since their defeat in November, there’s been little cause for confidence within the Democratic Party. For the optimists on the Left, Democrats did see strong turnout in special elections in a dozen or so states, where their candidates outperformed Kamala Harris by an average of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/democratic-performance-improving-slew-special-elections-weary-party-lo-rcna198984">more than 10 percentage points</a>. Most notably, Democrats won a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dangerously-liberal-judge-projected-to-win-wisconsin-supreme-court-race">resounding victory</a> for a Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin — a state Trump won by a point.
But: The bad news outweighs the good. First, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nn1HT9AZ2OPFuB1z2jKHM6OMrh-NONO0NIzOoHqjxk8/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.35xntky3bxsv">Gallup</a> just found that the approval rating for Democrat leaders in Congress has fallen to just 25%. Not only is that the lowest mark in the poll&#8217;s history, it’s a full nine points lower than the previous record. That disapproval is crossing party lines – according to the latest numbers from CNN, only 63% of Democrats even view their own party favorably.
Polling shows that folks on the Left feel their leaders don’t have a clear strategy for standing up to Trump. A recent survey from Data for Progress asked Democrat voters how they would grade their party leaders’ response to Donald Trump &#8212; 7 in 10 gave a C, D, or F. If they had a singular leader to rally around, there might be more optimism, but there isn’t a clear standard bearer waiting in the wings for them to rally around. President Barack Obama can’t run again and is seemingly content to work primarily behind the scenes. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is 85 years old and could retire at any moment. President Joe Biden is 82 and still unpopular with the general public. Vice President Kamala Harris could come back into the fray, but she’s essentially been in hiding since November.
That void has left an opportunity for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — two of the Left’s most popular, and controversial lawmakers — to take center stage. A poll last week from Survey USA found that 50% of Democrats want the party to “become more progressive,” while just 18% said “more moderate.” AOC and Sanders&#8217; &#8220;Fighting Oligarchy&#8221; speaking tour has drawn massive crowds all across the country, including in deep-red states like Idaho and Utah. Instead of embracing a more moderate approach, they’ve gone all-in on calling for Democrats to embrace their far-Left base and oppose Trump at all costs.
“Donald Trump is a criminal who was found guilty of 34 counts of fraud,” AOC <a href="https://x.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/1911951880395055606">told</a> a cheering crowd in Idaho. “Of course he’s lying and abusing and manipulating the stock market, too. When he talks about rapists and criminals he should look in the mirror.”
Ocasio-Cortez raised nearly $10 million last quarter — by far her largest haul since taking office, and according to a recent YouGov poll, she’s got a +61 approval rating among Democrat voters. Polls now show that Ocasio-Cortez is a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. Plenty of Republicans are salivating at the idea of AOC becoming the party’s leader or nominee, given her endorsements of measures that are unpopular with the general public, including the Green New Deal, defunding the police, and abolishing ICE.
To that point, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom appears to be pushing his party to make a beeline for the middle, urging it to retreat from political correctness, oppose boys in girls&#8217; sports, and refrain from apocalyptic language about Donald Trump and his supporters. But right now, that message doesn’t seem to be gaining much traction with Democratic voters.

Pope Francis Leads Way Of The Cross On Rio’s Copacabana Beach

Morning Brief: The Pope’s Legacy, Potential Successors & The Future Of The Democratic Party

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Bernie Sanders

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he will attend the funeral of Pope Francis, which will likely take place in Rome this month.
&#8220;Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome,&#8221; the president shared in a Truth Social post on Monday afternoon. &#8220;We look forward to being there!&#8221;
It&#8217;s not immediately clear when the funeral will be: a pope is typically <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pope-francis-dies-at-the-age-of-88?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Pope+Francis+Is+Dead+At+88">mourned for nine days</a> while the College of Cardinals comes together to pray. After the pope&#8217;s funeral takes place, the conclave of cardinals will elect a new pope.
His announcement came after he ordered federal and state flags to fly at half-staff in memory of Pope Francis.
<div id="attachment_910531" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-trump-to-attend-funeral-of-pope-francis-in-rome/trump-orders-flags-to-fly-at-half-staff-to-honor-pope-francis" rel="attachment wp-att-910531"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-910531" class="wp-image-910531 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211326600-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211326600-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211326600-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211326600-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2211326600.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>The U.S. flag flies at half staff near the Washington Monument on the National Mall in honor of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)</div>
“As a mark of respect for the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114376655236734018">wrote in a separate post</a>.
He added: “I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.”
The president spoke of the pope at the White House Easter Egg roll, where he told attendees of Pope Francis: &#8220;He was a good man, worked hard. He loved the world.”
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, announced on Monday that the pope had died at 7:35 that morning, stating: &#8220;His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized.”
The pope&#8217;s body will be transferred to St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica on Wednesday morning, the Vatican said Monday, so that &#8220;the faithful may pray before his mortal remains.&#8221;
&#8220;The translation of the Holy Father&#8217;s mortal remains to the Vatican Basilica, for the veneration of all the faithful, may take place on the morning of Wednesday, April 23, 2025, according to the arrangements that shall be determined and communicated tomorrow, following the first Congregation of the Cardinals,&#8221; <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/pope-francis-ascertainment-death-cardinal-kevin-farrell.html">said the director of the Holy See Press Office</a>, Matteo Bruni.

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President Trump To Attend Funeral Of Pope Francis In Rome

Melania Trump

Vatican officials revealed Monday evening that Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke followed by a coma and ultimately “irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.”
Professor Andrea Arcangeli, Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, issued the official certification per the Holy See Press Office late Monday.
Arcangeli confirmed the Pontiff’s death through electrocardiographic thanatography, <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/04/21/250421d.html">stating</a>, &#8220;I hereby declare that the causes of death, to the best of my knowledge and judgment, are as stated.&#8221;
The report <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/pope-francis-death-due-to-stroke-and-irreversible-cardiocircula.html">listed</a> the time of death as 7:35 a.m. on Monday, with the causes of death listed as a “stroke,” leading to a “coma,” and eventually “irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse,” per Vatican News.
The brief report noted the Pope had a “previous episode of acute respiratory failure in the context of bilateral multimicrobial pneumonia” and suffered from “multiple bronchiectasis,” “Arterial hypertension,” and “Type II diabetes” before his death early Monday.
Professor Arcangeli&#8217;s certification follows standard Vatican protocol for documenting the death of a pontiff, with the use of electrocardiographic thanatography providing medically precise confirmation of the time of cardiac death.
The Pope had been in and out of the hospital for two months prior to his death, <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/21/world-news/pope-francis-cause-of-death-revealed-by-the-vatican/">battling</a> various respiratory illnesses necessitating a constant flow of supplemental oxygen and at least one emergency blood transfusion, per the New York Post.
Pope Francis&#8217; death marks a pivotal moment for the world&#8217;s 1.3 billion Catholics, who now await the selection of a new spiritual leader.

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