Popes the media were too quick to bury

In recent weeks, Pope Francis' hospitalization fueled numerous rumors about the pontiff's imminent risk of death or plans for retirement. While he did suffer two crises where he was near death, he has now returned to the Vatican. The history of the popes shows many examples of astonishing longevity for pontiffs whose death was considered imminent by the media.

On September 22, 1996, some 200,000 faithful were present in Reims for the Mass celebrated by John Paul II for the 1, 500th anniversary of the baptism of Clovis. Many of them had the more or less explicit feeling of bidding farewell to an exhausted pontiff. Indeed, John Paul II was greatly weakened by Parkinson's disease, but also by appendicitis, for which he would finally undergo surgery a few days later in Rome.

In the eyes of observers, the suffering of the Polish pope made the prospects for the World Youth Day planned for Paris in the summer of 1997 still very uncertain, even improbable. And the very low number of registrations reflected this.

No one would have bet on the popular success that would bring together more than a million young people around an exhausted but delighted Pope! And neither did anyone imagine the arrival of a John Paul II well into his 80s in Lourdes in 2004, for what was, this time, his real last trip abroad.

In his book Un automne romain (“A Roman Autumn”), published by Les Belles Lettres in 2018, journalist Michel de Jaeghere recounts the very special atmosphere that reigned in Rome in October 1996 when John Paul II, then 76 years old, was hospitalized. Jaeghere, now director of Figaro Histoire, was sent there by his editorial team.

He describes the strange atmosphere among the Vatican experts, who were preparing to experience their “moment of glory” and observing with disdain the arrival of the international correspondents discovering “the Vatican machine.”

But the appendectomy was successful, and finally relieved the Pope of the intestinal pains that had assailed him several times over the previous year.

John Paul II's health, due to the assassination attempt of May 13, 1981, and its serious consequences, was an endless and trying media saga. The French weekly Courrier international headlined its October 26, 1994, edition with a shocking title: “The Pope is dying.”

“Will the Pope lead the Church, as he hopes, into the third millennium?” wondered the weekly six years before the Jubilee of the Year 2000, which would ultimately be led by a John Paul II who was more robust than expected.

John Paul II wasn’t the only pope to be the subject of speculation about his imminent death. Leo XIII, who died in 1903 at the then extremely rare age of 93 — more than double the life expectancy of the general population at the time — was the focus of numerous rumors of illness and death at the end of the 19th century.

The film footage of him taken in 1896, which is currently the oldest video content recorded in Italy, was intended as a bold response to these rumors. He thus became the first pope to be filmed, but also one of the first public figures to appear in such a medium.

His successor, St. Pius X, had a shorter pontificate. His death in the summer of 1914 was overshadowed by the start of the First World War. The death of his successor Benedict XV in 1922 received little media coverage, in a context of weakening international visibility of the Holy See.

It was different in 1936, when Pius XI was reported to be dying. “On December 5 and 6, 1936, journalists from all over the world descended on Rome to cover the last hours of this robust pope, an accomplished sportsman who had never had to see a doctor,” says Bernard Lecomte in his book Le Dictionnaire amoureux des papes (“The Loving Dictionary of Popes”, Plon, 2016).

But after 10 days of suffering, Pius XI experienced an “incomprehensible remission,” considered by some to be a miracle.

His actual death on February 10, 1939, remains shrouded in mystery. On the occasion of the commemoration of the Lateran Accords, the Pope had prepared a very firm and critical speech regarding Mussolini’s fascist regime. He died two days before he was to deliver it, and therefore it fell by the wayside.

The presence in his medical team of a certain Dr. Francesco Petacci, who was none other than the father of Mussolini's mistress, Clara Petacci, led the French cardinal Eugène Tisserant to believe that the Pope had been assassinated.

Pius XII died in 1958 in Castel Gandolfo, after a reign marked by numerous physical and mental illnesses. His health was also influenced by his personal physician, Dr. Galeazzi-Lisi. This doctor was a controversial character who went so far as to sell photos of the dying pope to the French periodical Paris-Match.

The death of John XXIII in June 1963, in much saner and more serene circumstances, crystallized the love of the Romans for their “buono Papa.” They accompanied him in his final hours by keeping vigil and praying in St. Peter's Square, as one would accompany the last moments of a grandfather at home.

The death of Paul VI in 1978, in the middle of the summer torpor, was not a real surprise due to his palpable exhaustion. However, that of his successor John Paul I, after only one month of reign, was an immense shock, and aroused disbelief. The circumstances of his unexpected death are still a subject of debate today, and it was only after his death that his health became the subject of numerous articles.

The Vatican's weak and confused communication around the death of John Paul I also contributed to the intense media frenzy around John Paul II, who ironically stated that if he needed to check on his health, he only had to “read the papers.”

For his part, Benedict XVI, despite his fragile constitution, enjoyed relatively stable health conditions during his pontificate and survived nearly 10 years after his resignation.

Francis' return to the Vatican on March 23, 2025, marks a new episode in this history of popes “resurrected” after being the subject of rumors of imminent death. But if he continues his pontificate with at least a partial resumption of his activities, his physical limitations and his 88 years of age will certainly imply a slower pace and constant medical supervision.