Vatican City — Pope Francis thanked his personal nurse for encouraging him to greet the crowds in St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday, according to the Vatican, which said that these were amongst his last words. The Argentine pontiff, 88, died on Monday morning from a stroke and heart failure, less than a month after returning home from five weeks in hospital battling double pneumonia.
“Thank you for bringing me back to the square,” Francis told his nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, after what would be his final popemobile ride, according to the Vatican News, the Holy See’s media outlet.
“Do you think I can manage it?” he had asked Strappetti before the outing, the Vatican said Tuesday.
The medic, in whom he had complete confidence, reassured him.
Francis then spent about 15 minutes waving at the crowd and blessing babies from his popemobile, flanked by numerous bodyguards. He appeared exhausted during the Easter celebrations, but nevertheless greeted the crowd and drove around St. Peter’s Square cheered by thousands of rapt worshippers.
While he used an aide to deliver longer remarks, Francis said to the crowd in his own weakened voice: “Brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!”
“Viva il Papa! [Long live the pope!],” the crowd chanted in response.
There were no oxygen tubes or other medical devices seen as Francis rode in his open-air popemobile a mere three weeks after he was discharged from a five-week hospital stay for life-threatening double pneumonia.
The pope then spent Sunday afternoon resting in his Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta, and had a peaceful dinner, Vatican News reported.
On Monday, at around 5:30 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. EDT Sunday), “the first signs of illness appeared,” it said.
More than an hour later, Francis waved to Strappetti from his bed in what the media site described as “a gesture of farewell” before falling into a coma. He was declared dead at 7:35 a.m.
“He did not suffer. It all happened quickly,” Vatican News said, quoting people who were with the pontiff in his final moments. “It was a discreet death, almost sudden, without long suffering or public alarm, for a pope who had always been very reserved about his health.”
Handout/Vatican News service 
In the past, Francis credited Strappetti with once having saving his life for persuading him to undergo surgery for an inflammation in his intestine.
The College of Cardinals announced Tuesday that Pope Francis’ funeral will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. EDT) at St. Peter’s Basilica.
Plans will be made for a conclave to begin within a few weeks for the cardinals to choose the next pope.
