Newsmakers

Pope Francis Suffers Stroke And Dies Only Hours After Blessing Throng Of Some 50 Thousand On Easter Sunday

Pope Francis died Monday, April 21, one day after Easter Sunday. He had made a triumphant return to a public appearance on a balcony where he blessed a throng of some 50 thousand who cheered his effort to greet him. It had been only a short time after he had been treated for double pneumonia and ignored the advice of his doctors to avoid large crowds.

Moments after he appeared on the balcony, the Pope waded into the crowd in his popemobile and made several stops to speak to the faithful. gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

The Vatican released a statement just after 7:30 AM on Monday that Pope Francis had slipped into a coma after suffering a stroke which was followed by heart failure.

Pope Francis set groundbreaking achievements on two fronts with his selection during the Vatican Conclave: He was the first pontiff from South America as well as the first Jesuit to be chosen.

His death comes six weeks following the Academy Awards ceremony where the film Conclave was a nominee for Best Picture. The film, which starred Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Jon Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini, depicted the sudden death of a pope and the various machinations of the most likely candidates to be chosen by the electors. To be eligible to take part in the Conclave the assembled Cardinals must be under the age of 80.

The movie has all the elements of a thriller: The plot unfolds literally under lock and key. The rules of the Conclave include shielding the electors from all news media or contact with individuals who are not part of the conclave.

Pope Francis’s will stipulated that he not be interred at the Vatican but rather at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, a place he visited often. Pope Francis was 88.

Published by Tandy Culpepper

I am a veteran broadcast journalist. I was an Army brat before my father retired and moved us to the deep South. I'm talkin' Lower Alabama and Northwest Florida, I graduated from Tate High School and got botha Bachelor's degree and Master's in Teaching English from the University of West Florida, I taught English at Escambia County High School for two years before getting my m's in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Auburn University. Following graduation, I did a 180 degree turn and moved to Birmingham where I began ny broadcasting career at WBIQ, Channel 10. There I was host of a weekly primetime half-hour TV program called Alabama Lifestyles. A year later, I began a stint as a television weathercaster and public affairs host. A year later, I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida and became bureau chief at WPTV, the CBS affiliate. Two years later, I moved to Greensboro, North Carolina where I became co-host of a morng show called AM Carolina. The next year, I moved cross-country and became co-host and story producer at KTVN-TV in Reno, Nevada. I also became the medical reporter for the news department. Three years later, I moved to Louisville, Kentucky and became host and producer of a morning show called today in WAVE Country at WAVE-TV, Channel 3, the NBC affiliate. Following three years there, I moved to Los Angeles and became senior correspondent at the Turner Entertainment Reportn, an internationally-syndicated entertainment entertainment news service owned by CNN. I went back to school afterwards and got an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Oh, yes. I won a hundred thousand dollars on the 100 Thousand Dollar Pyramid, then hosted by Dick Clark.

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