Pope Francis Dies at 88 — Whoopi Goldberg, Russell Crowe, JD Vance and Others Remember a Leader Who Reached Beyond Believers

Pope Francis, who led the Catholic Church with a focus on mercy over judgment, has died at the age of 88, sending shockwaves through both religious and secular communities around the world.

His final weeks were marked by severe health struggles — a hospitalization for bronchitis, complications that led to double pneumonia, and repeated respiratory crises. Yet just weeks before his death, he defied expectations, standing before tens of thousands on Easter Sunday to deliver his final public blessing in St. Peter’s Square.

Tributes have poured in from around the globe. Whoopi Goldberg, who met the Pope twice, called him “the closest in a long time that seemed to remember that Christ’s love enveloped believer and non-believer.” She likened him to Pope John XXIII — a figure remembered for making faith feel tangible. “Sail on Pope Frances,” she wrote, in a post filled with warmth and reverence.

Actor Russell Crowe, who met Pope Francis in 2014, marked the moment simply: “A beautiful day in Rome, but a sad day for the faithful. RIP Francis.” U.S. Vice President JD Vance, one of the last government officials to see Francis alive, said he was “obviously very ill” during their Easter Sunday meeting, but remembered him for the way he comforted the world during COVID — especially through a homily Vance called “really quite beautiful.”

Leaders across the world followed suit. King Charles III remembered the Pope’s “tireless commitment” to compassion, interfaith unity, and environmental justice — noting that Francis’ Easter message gave them comfort even in grief. French President Emmanuel Macron said the Pope “wanted the Church to bring joy and hope to the poorest,” and prayed that the spirit of his leadership would outlive him.

Donald Trump and the White House issued nearly simultaneous tributes, with Trump adding: “May God Bless him and all who loved him!”

Francis will be remembered not for dogma, but for how he lived his beliefs — choosing humility over grandeur, choosing the poor over the powerful, and choosing dialogue over division. He was a pope who embraced the world, even its outcasts. And now, in death, he’s being embraced in return.