Asia mourns passing of Pope Francis

UPDATED April 21, 2025, 2:35 p.m. ET

Church bells rang out in the Philippines and national and spiritual leaders across Asia expressed sorrow Monday, mourning Pope Francis who died aged 88 after a 12-year papacy.

The Argentine pontiff’s humble style and care for the poor resonated beyond his followers in the Catholic Church. He had traveled extensively across Asia since becoming leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics in 2013.

During his tenure, Francis drew huge crowds in countries such as the Philippines, which is predominantly Catholic, but also Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand where Muslims and Buddhists were in the religious majority and Catholics were in the minority. He also visited South Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Timor-Leste and Singapore.

The Vatican announced that the pope had died at 7:35 a.m. local time on Monday. He was hospitalized for 38 days from mid-February with respiratory problems that developed into double pneumonia. He had suffered from chronic lung disease as a young man.

Tributes from around the world quickly poured in for Francis. He died just a day after he greeted thousands of faithful who had gathered in St. Peter’s Square following Sunday Easter Mass.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr described Francis as the “best pope in my lifetime,” saying in a Facebook post that he “led not only with wisdom but with a heart open to all, especially the poor and the forgotten.”

Church bells tolled across Manila on Monday. Nearly 80% of Filipinos identify as Roman Catholic.

Francis visited the country in 2015 – two years after he was elected to head the Catholic Church, after the surprise resignation of Benedict XVI. An estimated 6 million to 7 million faithful attended an open-air Mass in Manila during his visit.

Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Monday the death of the Francis, the first Latin American to be pope, was a tremendous loss for the world, not just Christians.

“He leaves behind a profound legacy of humanity, of justice, of human fraternity, a tremendous loss for the world, not only for Christians,” he told Reuters.

Francis was the first pope in three decades to visit Timor-Leste, Asia’s youngest, predominantly-Catholic nation. That 2024 trip also took him to Papua New Guinea – the only country in the Pacific region that he ever travelled to as pope.

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, expressed his sadness in a letter to the leader of the diplomatic mission of the Vatican in India.

“His Holiness Pope Francis dedicated himself to the service of others … consistently revealing by his own actions how to live a simple, but meaningful life. The best tribute we can pay to him is to be a warm-hearted person, serving others wherever and in whatever way we can,” the Dalai Lama wrote.

In the pope’s Easter message on Sunday, a day before his passing, he made special mention of Myanmar, which is reeling March 28 earthquake that killed thousands.

“During this time, let us not fail to assist the people of Myanmar, plagued by long years of armed conflict, who, with courage and patience, are dealing with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Sagaing,” the message said. “We pray for the victims and their loved ones.”

In 2017, he had visited Myanmar, also known as Burma, and met with not just its democratically then-leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, but its military chief who four years later launched a coup that ignited a civil war. Francis has since made frequent appeals for peace and for the plight of Christian minorities and stateless Rohingya Muslims.

Maran Seng Naw, a Catholic devotee in Myitkyina, the capital of Myanmar’s Kachin State, expressed sorrow Monday on the death of Francis.

“What’s even more heartbreaking is that he brought global attention to Burma — he spoke more about it, highlighted its struggles, and prayed more for it. Losing someone like him is truly a great loss,” he said.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, president of Singapore, said Francis’s unwavering compassion, humility, and dedication to humanity inspired many in the city state, where he visited in 2024, as did his message of peace.

“The world too has lost a voice for the poor and those in dire straits. A voice for peace in a world of wars. A voice for action to address climate change and avoid its devastating effects on people. Above all, a voice of hope and unity,” Shanmugaratnam wrote on social media platform, Facebook.

Francis was a tireless advocate on climate change and its impact on the poor – concerns he spelled out in 2015 in a 184-page encyclical, his first papal letter to the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church.

“Obstructionist attitudes, even on the part of believers, can range from denial of the problem to indifference, nonchalant resignation or blind confidence in technical solutions. We require a new and universal solidarity,” he wrote.

When it came to relations with China, Francis sought to improve ties, with mixed results.

In 2018, China and the Vatican signed an agreement on the appointment of bishops under which China would propose candidates for bishops, and the Pope would select them. In 2022 and 2023, China appointed two bishops without the authorization of the Vatican, which accused China of violating the agreement, which was nevertheless renewed.

On Monday, China’s Xinhua news agency and state-run CCTV briefly reported the pope’s death Monday with one sentence quoting the announcement by the Vatican. There was no immediate official reaction.

By contrast, the Taiwanese government announced it will send envoys to the pope’s funeral and that the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan will fly flags at half-mast for two days.

The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

During his tenure, Francis faced some criticism for being ‘pro-China’ and for not speaking out about the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

Rushan Abbas, executive chair of the World Uyghur Congress, expressed sincere condolences to the Catholic church and its members Monday and paid tribute to the pope’s “lifelong commitment to justice, compassion, and the dignity of the oppressed.”

“While we mourn his loss, we also reflect on the painful silence that surrounded the Uyghur genocide during his papacy. As the Church prepares for new leadership, we pray that the next Holy Father will raise his voice in defense of the Uyghur people and all those suffering under authoritarian oppression,” she said.

In South Korea, both the ruling and main opposition parties expressed sorrow.

The opposition Democratic Party of Korea called him “a friend to the poor,” and the ruling People Power Party said it would do its utmost to establish peace on the divided Korean Peninsula, “remembering his words that ‘peace is not merely the absence of war, but the result of justice.’”

RFA Burmese, Korean, Mandarin, Uyghur and Tibetan services contributed reporting. Edited by Mat Pennington.

Updated with reaction from Singapore and Myanmar and adds background on the pope’s advocacy on climate change.