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On April 21, 2025, the Vatican Church announced the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday. This came weeks after the pontiff's battle with respiratory issues that left him hospitalized for over five weeks between February and March 2025. Pope Francis, who was 88 at the time of his death, was last seen by the public on Easter Sunday.
According to Town & Country reports, dated April 21, 2025, Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was the eldest of five children, born to parents Mario José Bergoglio and Regina María Sívori. He had four siblings: sisters Marta and María, and brothers Oscar and Alberto. His sister María is his only living sibling.
Pope Francis' extended family includes two cousins close to his age and a niece, Cristina Bergoglio, an Argentinian painter and writer based in Spain.
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Pope Francis' death came after he was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia during his hospitalization in February 2025. While he was in "critical condition" following his diagnosis, he was able to recuperate and was discharged on March 23. Since his discharge, he had been seen in public a handful of times, as his doctors advised two months of convalescence to recover from his ailment.
On Easter Sunday, the late Pope welcomed an estimated 35,000 people from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. Later, he drove around the piazza on his popemobile, greeting and blessing the gathered people.
Pope Francis' sister lives in Argentina
Pope Francis made history by being the first person from Latin America to be elected to the papacy in 2013. He was born and raised in Argentina, however, his ancestors have familial ties in Italy. According to Rome Reports, the late Pope's father migrated to Argentina in the 1920s, and his mother, born in Buenos Aires, had family roots in Northern Italy.
In 1936, the Pope was born to Mario José Bergoglio and Regina María Sívori. It is unclear how and when the Pope's other sibling died. His only living sister, María Elena Bergoglio, lives in Argentina.
María stated during a 2013 interview with CNN en Español that she had hoped her brother was not chosen to be the Pope in 2005, saying:
“During the previous conclave, I was praying for him not to be elected … because I didn’t want my brother to leave. It’s a position that was a little selfish.”
Following his election in 2013, María revealed in an NCR interview that her brother had called her after he was elected, and the siblings had shared an "emotional conversation." María did not attend her brother's inauguration, stating that Pope Francis had asked her to use the travel money for charity.
José Ignacio Bergoglio, María's son, spoke up about his relationship with the Pope in a 2019 Facebook post. He stated that the Pope had stepped in as his father figure after his biological father abandoned him and his mother when he was young.
"Even though [my mother] did her best to play the role of two [parents], she couldn't give me a father figure. Fortunately my mother had a brother, my uncle. Jorge taught me that humility, respect for each other and empathy are values that are learned at home," he wrote.
He further added in the Facebook post, saying:
Today I can say that much of what I am, and what I do for society is the result of the influence my mom, Maria Elena, and my uncle, Jorge, exercised on me and taught me in my childhood."
José Ignacio and his wife Marina head a charity, Haciendo Lío, in Argentina that provides food and assistance to the marginalized communities.
Pope Francis's niece, Cristina Bergoglio, during a 2018 interview with The Irish Times, stated that she did not visit her uncle anymore. She explained:
“I do not see him anymore, not because I don’t want to, but because I respect his job as a spiritual messenger very much and because I am also very busy with my work.”
However, it is unclear how she is related to the Pope.
On Easter Monday, Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced Pope Francis' death on Vatican TV, saying:
"Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father."
The day before his death, the Pope made his final public appearance on Easter Sunday and also briefly met US Vice President JD Vance.
