Pope Francis thanked his personal nurse for encouraging him to take a final ride in the popemobile so he could greet the crowds in St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday, the Vatican has revealed.
The Argentine pontiff, 88, died on Monday morning from a stroke, 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, in what were some of his final words.
The pontiff appeared exhausted during Easter celebrations on Sunday, but nevertheless greeted the crowds and drove around St Peter’s Square cheered by thousands of rapt worshippers.
‘Do you think I can manage it?’ he had asked Strappetti before taking the plunge, according to the Vatican News, the Holy See’s media outlet.
The medic, whom he had previously credited for saving his life, reassured him.
Francis then spent about 15 minutes waving at the crowd and blessing babies from his popemobile, flanked by numerous bodyguards.
The Pope spent the afternoon resting in his Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta, and had a peaceful dinner, Vatican News reported.
On Monday, at around 5.30 am, ‘the first signs of illness appeared,’ it said.
More than an hour later, he waved to Strappetti from his bed in what the media site described as ‘a gesture of farewell’ before falling into a coma.
Francis was declared dead at 7:35 am.
