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    Designers Do a Double Take at the Lettering on Pope Francis’ Tombstone

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    Irregularly spaced letters spelling “F R A NCISC VS” have caused a stir among typography nerds who specialize in spacing and fonts. One called them “an abomination unto design.”The arrangements for the funeral of Pope Francis were meticulous, and the ceremony drew a global audience. But it is the arrangement of the letters on his tombstone that are now attracting outsize attention.The simple slab has only 10 letters, but the spacing between them can make it read like “F R A NCISC VS.”Of course, the lettering is meant to be read as Franciscus, the derivative of the pope’s name in Latin. (V stood for both u and v in Latin.)Pope Francis’ marble tomb reflects his simple style and fulfills his desire for an unadorned final resting place. In that sense, the tombstone lettering in Times Roman, a workmanlike font that is widely used in the English language, could be considered appropriate.But for those who obsess about kerning, the space between letters, the view from above the tomb is not exactly an aesthetically pleasing one.“Woe be unto the person who decided to do it the way that they did it, just because it’s a bad decision that will last for a long time, unless they change it,” said Charles Nix, the senior executive creative director at Monotype, one of the world’s largest typeface and technology companies.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Francis Wanted a Church of the Poor and Put It Into Practice

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      Around St. Peter’s Square, the pope offered services to the homeless and migrants, in ways that often did not go down well with his fellow clerics.Throughout his papacy, Francis was an outspoken advocate for the downtrodden. Shortly after he was elected in 2013 he said, “How I would like a church that is poor and for the poor.”But Francis, who died on Monday at 88, didn’t just pay lip service.When the vehicle carrying his coffin pulls up at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he will be buried on Saturday, a group of “poor and needy” people will be waiting on the steps, the Vatican said this week. After all, the statement added, the pope “had chosen the name Francis to never forget them.” St. Francis of Assisi renounced his wealth to live in poverty.Marginalized groups will be present at the funeral, the Vatican said Friday.One of the first people to pay their respects when Francis was brought to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday was Sister Geneviève Jeanningros, who until last year lived in a camper in a fairground outside Rome, serving those in need. She was in regular contact with Francis, who visited the fairground, and images of her weeping in front of his coffin moved many.Sister Geneviève Jeanningros, center in blue, was one of the first people to pay their respects to Francis.Pool photo by Alessandro Di MeoCloser to his own home, Francis “strongly supported” transforming the Vatican post office located on the right side of the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square into a free medical clinic for the homeless and for undocumented migrants. The clinic opened in 2018 and averages 100 visits a day, said its director, Dr. Massimo Ralli.“It’s putting the Gospel into practice because caring for people is one of the aspects of charity,” said Dr. Ralli. “So it absolutely mirrors the message of the Holy Father toward the least.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      How Will a New Pope Be Chosen After Francis’ Death?

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      Many of the rituals and procedures of selecting a new pope — designed to ensure secrecy and an orderly transition — have remained unchanged for centuries.Pope Francis has died, the Vatican announced on Monday, ending a groundbreaking pontificate. Cardinals will now decide whether to continue his approach or restore more doctrinaire leadership.The death of a pope sets in motion a chain of rituals and procedures, many of which have remained unchanged for centuries. They were drafted and refined to ensure secrecy and an orderly transition.Several Vatican officials step into designated roles to certify the pope’s death, organize a public viewing and a funeral, and to initiate the process for selecting a successor.Here is what to expect for the period between pontiffs known as the sede vacante, a Latin phrase meaning the seat is vacant.Here’s what you need to know:Who takes charge at the Vatican?What does the pope’s funeral look like?When does the conclave begin?How will we know when a pope is elected?Who takes charge at the Vatican?Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell was appointed camerlengo, or chamberlain, of the Holy Roman Church, by Pope Francis in 2019. Andrew Medichini/Associated PressWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Who Is Kevin Farrell, the Vatican’s New De Facto Administrator?

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      Cardinal Kevin Farrell performed one of the most solemn acts in his position as cardinal chamberlain, or camerlengo in Italian, of the Roman Catholic Church, when he announced to the world that Pope Francis had died.“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father,” said Cardinal Farrell, an Irish American who, as camerlengo, will run the ordinary affairs of the Vatican until a new pope is chosen. “His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church,” he said, as bells began to toll in churches across Rome.Vatican MediaThe camerlengo is in charge of day-to-day operations during the “Apostolica Sede Vacans,” the period between the death or resignation of a pope and the election of the next pontiff, though he cannot make any major decisions affecting the Church during this time.The Vatican announced that on Monday evening, Cardinal Farrell will preside over the ritual of certification of Francis’ death and lay his body in the coffin in the chapel of the Vatican guesthouse where the pontiff resided. The cardinal will be joined by other Vatican officials, including Vatican medical staff and members of Francis’ family.The pope’s body will remain in the chapel until the College of Cardinals decides on the day and hour that he will be brought to St. Peter’s Basilica, in a procession led by Cardinal Farrell. The Vatican announced Monday that this could take place as soon as Wednesday morning, depending on what the College of Cardinals decides. The college includes the 252 cardinals of the Catholic church, of whom 135 are under 80 and can vote to elect a new pope. There will be a public viewing until Francis’ funeral and burial, which are supposed to take place four to six days after his death.Cardinal Farrell, as camerlengo, will also lock and seal the pope’s residence, which in the case of Francis consisted of much of the second floor of the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse originally built to house out- of-town cardinals during a conclave.The Irish-born Cardinal Farrell, 77, spent more than 30 years working in the United States. He was auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington between 2002 and 2007 and bishop of Dallas from 2007 to 2017. He left the United States in 2016 when Pope Francis called him to Rome as prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, a department in the Roman Curia, as the central administration of the church is known. Three years later, Francis named him camerlengo, one of the highest positions in the church, though it is mostly ceremonial. And in 2023 Francis named him president of the Supreme Court of Vatican City State.Cardinal Farrell is the younger brother of Bishop Brian Farrell, who was the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity from 2002 to 2024. More

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      Pope Francis Makes Public Appearance in Rome

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      From a balcony, Francis greeted hundreds of people waiting outside the hospital where he had been treated for respiratory problems.Pope Francis, looking frail and with belabored breathing that made it difficult for him to speak, made his first appearance in more than six weeks Sunday, appearing briefly on the balcony of a Rome hospital to greet hundreds of people gathered in the square in front.“Thank you everyone,” he said in a wisp of a voice. The pope later left the hospital to briefly stop at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which has an icon of the Virgin Mary he is devoted to, before heading to the Vatican guesthouse where he lives.“I see a woman with yellow flowers,” Francis said during his appearance on the second-floor balcony after he was brought out in a wheelchair. “She’s good,” he said, complimenting her. He then sat and waved with both hands while people cheered and waved flags.But after more than a month out of the public eye, Francis emerged deeply changed and diminished looking, underlining what will be a long recovery and a new phase for him and the church. It became apparent on the balcony that, for now, the Francis of old, who spoke off the cuff and made physical closeness to the faithful a hallmark of his pontificate, was transformed.The pope’s voice was thin and raspy, which was to be expected for a patient who had suffered serious damage to his lungs and respiratory muscles, as his doctors explained at a news conference Saturday.His appearance on Sunday was met with cheers of “Papa Francesco” from the faithful outside the hospital. “Long live the pope,” someone called out.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Pope Francis Will Remain in Hospital for ‘Complex’ Clinical Issue

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      Pope Francis was admitted on Friday with a respiratory infection. The announcement on Monday did not provide further detail, but raised fresh concerns about the pontiff’s health.Pope Francis will remain in a Rome hospital after being admitted late last week following a series of tests that indicated a “complex clinical picture,” the Vatican said on Monday, raising fresh concerns about the 88-year-old pontiff’s health.Diagnostic tests carried out after Francis was taken to Policlinico A. Gemelli on Friday presented “a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection,” and his doctors had changed treatment accordingly, the Vatican said in a statement.The complex clinical picture “would require an appropriate medical stay,” it said, without elaborating.Francis was hospitalized in 2023 with a respiratory infection, but was able to leave the hospital after three days.Francis has had a busy schedule since New Year’s Eve, when he presided over the opening of the 2025 Jubilee, held every 25 years in the Roman Catholic Church.The Vatican announced in early February that Francis had bronchitis, but he continued his activities, holding smaller audiences at the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where he lives, but presiding over larger gatherings and Masses with thousands of pilgrims, including an outdoor Mass in St. Peter’s Square earlier this month.The Vatican said that a general audience on Wednesday was canceled.After he entered the hospital, doctors prescribed complete rest. Subsequent medical updates said he was in “stable” condition.The pope, who had part of a lung removed as a young man, has a recent history of medical challenges. He has knee problems and sciatica that have caused a severe limp and, in recent years, often required him to use a wheelchair, walker or cane.In 2021, he had colon surgery. After his bout with bronchitis in 2023, he was hospitalized again a few months later to undergo abdominal surgery for a hernia. Last year, he underwent diagnostic tests at the Gemelli hospital after a slight flu.On Monday morning, Francis ate breakfast and read some newspapers after a restful night, said Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, adding that the pontiff was “in good spirits.” Mr. Bruni said a medical update would be issued later Monday. More

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      Pope Francis Is Accused of Using a Homophobic Slur Again

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      Two prominent Italian news agencies said the pontiff used the term on Tuesday during a meeting with priests, after he was accused of uttering the same word last month while speaking with Italian bishops.Pope Francis repeated an anti-gay slur during a meeting with priests in Rome on Tuesday, Italian news outlets reported, the same offensive term he was accused of using two weeks ago. The Vatican, in summarizing the gathering, said only that the pontiff had cautioned about admitting gay men into Roman Catholic seminaries.The Vatican did not address the reports by two of the most prominent news agencies in Italy, ANSA and Adnkronos, that he had again used the word “frociaggine,” an offensive Italian slang term referring to gay men. The reports cited anonymous sources they said had been present at the meeting.The New York Times could not independently verify the pope’s use of the term. A spokesperson for the Vatican declined to comment late on Tuesday night.The pope was accused of using the same term last month at a private meeting with Italian bishops, according to several people present at the meeting who spoke anonymously to the Italian news media.Those reports ignited widespread backlash and drew an apology from the pope, issued through the director of the Holy See’s press office, who said: “The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term, reported by others.”According to Vatican News, the Holy See’s online news site, Tuesday’s meeting took place at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome. There, it said in its summary, the pope “spoke about the danger of ideologies in the church” and reiterated that while the church should welcome people “with homosexual tendencies,” it should exercise “prudence” in admitting them into seminaries.The Vatican said the closed-door meeting also addressed “pastoral” and “current” themes, like substance abuse, low voter turnout in elections and the wars in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere.Francis has been widely credited with making moves to welcome the L.G.B.T.Q. community in the Roman Catholic Church, delivering a mostly inclusive message and deciding to allow priests to bless same-sex couples.But the previous reports about the pope’s use of the homophobic slur upset and alienated some members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community, within and outside the church.After the reports in May, a gay priest wrote in America magazine, a Jesuit publication, that he was “shocked and saddened” by the remarks and that “we need more than an apology for Pope Francis’ homophobic slur.”The Italian politician Alessandro Zan, who is gay and a prominent champion for the L.G.B.T.Q. community, wrote on social media then: “There is not too much ‘frociaggine’. There are too many homophobes.” More

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      NYC Mayor Adams Meets Pope Francis at the Vatican

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      The meeting was a highlight for the mayor, who is in Rome to speak at a conference about world peace and often talks about how his Christian faith informs his leadership.Mayor Eric Adams, who talks often about his faith, acknowledged on Saturday that he had felt some uncertainty — if not anxiety — about meeting Pope Francis.But at the Vatican, as Mr. Adams stooped before the pope, he felt any disquiet he had wash away. Pope Francis placed his hand on the mayor’s right arm. Then, the two shook hands.“I think that some people have a level of aura and energy and the ability to just calm people,” said Mr. Adams, who is Christian but not Catholic. “I think that’s what he possessed. In my prayers, I thank God for having the opportunity this morning.”The meeting came on the second day of a three-day trip to Italy for Mr. Adams, who said he is trying to better understand the global conflicts that touch New York. The visit came as the mayor, who is up for re-election next year, faces difficulties in New York City, including lagging poll numbers and a federal investigation into his campaign fund-raising.There was no specific agenda for the meeting between the mayor and the pope, which came as the pope met with participants of a conference about peace. But after the meeting, Mr. Adams said the two spoke about conflicts in Haiti, Africa and the Middle East. They talked about the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism, a nonprofit created by Robert Kraft, the owner of the N.F.L.’s New England Patriots.“He responded affirmatively and said: ‘Eric, please pray for me as well,’” the mayor said.After their meeting at the Vatican, Mr. Adams said that Pope Francis asked the mayor to pray for him.Vatican MediaWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More