On the menu today: The week begins with news somehow simultaneously shocking and expected — Pope Francis is dead at age 88. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., laying out the case that Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be brought back to the United States so he can be deported to El Salvador a second time in accordance with the law; some more rattles in the American economic engine; and a disgraced politician of the Covid era continues his comeback in the New York City mayor’s race.

Pope Francis Has Died

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the 266th pope in 2013, it marked a series of firsts. He was the first Jesuit pope and, as an Argentine, the first from outside Europe. Yet his legacy as Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday at age 88, was disappointing even on the priorities he set for his papacy.

Pope Francis has died, but the transformative impact of his papacy—marked by structural reforms that some view as a return to the Church's roots, and others as a further departure from them—will endure as his lasting legacy.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a man of many firsts. When the white smoke arose from the Sistine Chapel more than a decade ago, he became the first pope from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first to be a member of the Jesuit Order.

 Three days after white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in March 2013, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires greeted the international press inside a cavernous Vatican audience hall. As he rose from a richly upholstered armchair, a pair of well-worn black shoes peeked out from underneath his new papal robes.

The decision by Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, to reject the lavish red slippers of his office was widely interpreted as a small act of rebellion in the tradition-bound Vatican.

Pope Francis, the first pope from the Americas, has died at the age of 88, the Vatican has announced.

He had battled health problems throughout his life with bravery and good humor. It was a life that took him from an impoverished childhood in Buenos Aires to leader of the Catholic Church's 1.3 billion believers as the 266th pope.

His ascension to the papacy heralded many firsts.

Francis was the first Pope from the Americas or the Southern Hemisphere. Not since Syrian-born Gregory III died in 741 had there been a non-European Bishop of Rome.

He was also the first Jesuit to be elected to the throne of St Peter - Jesuits were historically looked on with suspicion by Rome.

His predecessor, Benedict XVI, was the first Pope to retire voluntarily in almost 600 years and for almost a decade the Vatican Gardens hosted two popes.

Francis, the 266th supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and spiritual shepherd of her estimated 1.39 billion members for nearly twelve years, died Monday in Rome at the age of 88 weeks after after being hospitalized Feb. 14 to treat double pneumonia, the Vatican announced.

Vice President JD Vance met with the Holy Father only hours earlier.

Pope Francis, the trailblazing Catholic leader known for his human-rights advocacy and sharp political edge, died Monday, April 21, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta after battling a long series of health complications stemming from a chronic lung disease, the Vatican announced.

The pontiff had been hospitalized on Feb. 14 with bronchitis, contracted pneumonia four days later and was listed in “critical condition” by the Vatican on Saturday, Feb. 22. He never fully recovered.

Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88.

Bells tolled in church towers across Rome after the announcement, which was read out by Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo, from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, where Francis lived.

For Christians, Easter is a remarkable time of new life, of resurrection and spiritual renewal. But those of a more secular persuasion can also find themselves beguiled by the restorative zeitgeist of this celebratory time of year.

In the northern hemisphere it’s spring, with its green shoots and brighter light. Down here, deep in the southern hemisphere, the transition is of a gentle autumnal splendour – of softer skies and a flourish of bronze in the deciduous treetops.