World mourns the death of Pope Francis

World mourns the death of Pope Francis.

Sources: White House look for Hegseth replacement after reports he shared war plans in 2nd group chat which included family members.

Mediators’ new Israel-Gaza ceasefire plan puts Netanyahu on the spot.

Pope Francis has died aged 88 of a stroke and heart failure after serving 12 years as the Supreme Pontiff. His passing came one day after he made a surprise appearance at St. Peter’s Square to greet and bless the faithful for Easter celebrations. He had also met yesterday with Vice President JD Vance. Francis had been suffering from ill health for some time and recently had a weeks-long hospital stay from a bout of pneumonia.

Born in 1937 in Argentina as Jorge Bergoglio, Francis was popular among Catholics and non-Catholics alike the world over. The first Jesuit ever to win the papacy, Francis carried out his pastoral duties with humility and compassion. He also was not shy about speaking critically of the powerful, and frequently decried the “globalization of indifference” towards the downtrodden and marginalized people of the world.

Criticisms of Francis

Francis’s push for more inclusivity within the church, incremental though it was, often did not endear him to conservative Catholics. A small subset of conservative Catholics even refused to acknowledge his authority as Pope, preferring instead to revere the more conservative Pape Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died in 2022, age 95. Benedict stepped down as Pope in 2013 citing his age. However, he had previously been heavily criticized for his handling of sex abuse cases within the church.

Some survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy were also critical of Francis, who they say did not go far enough to address past sexual abuse and prevent it in the future. The Survivor’s Network for those Abused by Priests has called for the next pope to institute a true “zero tolerance” policy for abuse, including independent oversight of bishops.

Picking a new pope

Many have questioned whether Pope Francis’s more progressive vision for the Roman Church will outlive him, or whether the backlash from conservative Catholics will win out.

The conclave to choose the next pontiff will take place in a few weeks’ time. Of the approximately 138 cardinals who will take part in electing a new pope, Francis personally chose and selected 110 of them. Many of these cardinals are men that share the late pontiff’s views on the future of the Catholic Church.

Since the church has seen its greatest growth in recent years in Africa and Asia, some have speculated on the possibility of the next Pope being from one of those two continents.

Papal elections are often unpredictable, but AP has compiled a list of a few of the frontrunners.

Christians in Gaza mourn Francis, who frequently called to pray with them as they sheltered from Israeli bombs.

In a touching last will and testament, Francis pleads for peace and asks for a tomb that is “simple, without particular decoration”.

Source to NPR: White House seeks Hegseth replacement after reports he shared war plans in 2nd group chat, which included family members.

Earlier this month, the Atlantic published the details of a group chat of high ranking Trump officials, which their editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently invited to. In this group chat, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed detailed war plans for an upcoming attack on the Houthis in Yemen.

The furor over this has largely died down. Both Hegseth and Waltz kept their jobs despite bipartisan demands that they step down and calls for an investigation into potential mishandling of classified information.

Now, sources say that Hegseth also shared these war plans in a second group chat which included his wife, brother, and lawyer. Over a dozen people in all were part of this group chat.

The allegations serviced as former close advisors to Hegseth have recently publicly questioned his judgment. Hegseth fired these aides after accusing them of leaking sensitive information, after he himself was exposed for doing so by the Atlantic. The firings, as well as an aggressive hunt for “leakers” among top security officials, have created friction within the Pentagon.

Despite renewed calls to fire Hegseth, Trump has so far stood behind him, at least publicly. Sources have revealed to NPR that the White House is quietly looking for someone to replace him as Secretary of Defense.

Mediators’ new Israel-Gaza ceasefire plan puts Netanyahu on the spot

Qatari and Egyptian mediators have proposed a new framework for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. This comes one week after Hamas officially rejected and Israeli proposal which demanded full disarming of Hamas in exchange for only a 6-week truce.

According to Palestinian sources, the new framework calls for a formal into the war, the return of all Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, as well as a 5 to 7 year truce.

Hamas has also reiterated its willingness to step down from government in Gaza. Power could be handed over to any Palestinian entity agreed upon “at the National and regional level”. This could be the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank, or an entirely new governing body.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to reject this plan, even though it gives the Israeli side everything they claim to want, apart from a full disarming of Hamas’s armed wing. Netanyahu has his own vested interest in continuing the war to fend off growing calls for his ouster within Israel. His rejection of this very favorable plan is likely to deepen his domestic political bind, especially if Hamas agrees, which seems likely.

Netanyahu is also likely to reject any role for the Palestinian authority in Gaza. It has long been his ambition to prevent political unification of all areas of Palestine.

Famine re-emerging in Gaza after Israel’s 7-week total siege.

Despite opposition from Netanyahu, US-Iran nuclear talks continue, showing “very good progress”.