CEO ‘blindsided’ by rock band’s anti-Israel remarks at Coachella: report
A concert promoter involved in organizing the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, was reportedly “blindsided” by anti-Israel rhetoric espoused by a rock band that performed at the event.
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap made calls to “free Palestine” and “F–k Israel” during their set on Friday at the Sonora tent. They also made references to genocide and condemned the U.S. military for its support of Israel, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Kneecap followed up its Coachella set on social media with numerous video posts about their ‘uncensored messaging’ and a request for young Americans to send the clips to President Trump, whom they called a derogatory term that starts with a c,” the Hollywood Reporter explained further.
Kneecap claimed last week that they were censored after pushing anti-Margaret Thatcher chants and other anti-Israel sentiments during their first show, which was reportedly cut off before their set ended.
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The band doubled down during their most recent performance at their weekend two show that offended the Jewish community. Sonora, a venue that typically platforms punk artists, reportedly did not livestream their second performance when organizers expected the band to double down on anti-Israel sentiments.
Formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2017, the band is notably a politically charged group that typically calls for Ireland to sever ties with British rule. However, Goldenvoice, the company that promoted Coachella, was shocked by Kneecap’s behavior after Jewish groups reached out to the company to address the anti-Israel remarks.
The Hollywood Reporter cites insiders as saying that the CEO of Goldenvoice, Paul Tollett, was “blindsided.”
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The report also cites music manager Scooter Braun defending Tollett after the backlash against Kneecap’s performance.
“Paul is a good man and has been an outspoken advocate on behalf of survivors of the Nova Music Festival,” Braun wrote on his Instagram on Sunday.
Braun explained further that Tollett had attended a Los Angeles memorial exhibit that he created to honor the hundreds who lost their lives in the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas terrorists.
“He not only attended the exhibit but stayed for five hours and then sat with survivors,” Braun said.
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Coachella is no stranger to politically charged performances.
Green Day lead singer Billy Joe Armstrong took aim at President Donald Trump and his administration after changing the lyrics in their hit song, “American Idiot.”
Furthermore, Sen. Bernie Sanders made an appearance, taking the stage to blast the Trump administration.
White House responds to report claiming Trump looking to replace key Cabinet official
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt disputed a report from NPR claiming that President Donald Trump is seeking to replace Pete Hegseth as his Secretary of Defense.
The White House has been mired in controversy about its information security since The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, appeared to be accidentally added to a groupchat with several top Trump officials discussing an attack on the Houthis on Signal, a messaging app.
Now in April, a similar controversy erupted when Hegseth, according to the New York Times, reportedly shared details of a March military airstrike against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen in another Signal message chat that included his wife and brother.
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NPR shared a report on Monday, claiming that amid these controversies, “The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.”
The report was quickly updated to note that Leavitt contested its accuracy.
“This @NPR story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about,” the White House spokeswoman wrote. “As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind @SecDef.”
Fox News Digital reached out to NPR for comment on Leavitt’s post and did not receive an immediate reply.
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The White House’s rapid response account shared a post slamming the report as well, claiming “Lies from NPR — which, as we all know, is a Fake News propaganda machine.”
The Trump administration has urged Congress to pull federal funding for both NPR and PBS.
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought drafted a memo this month asking lawmakers to slash $1.1 billion that was allotted to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), as well as $8.3 billion that was allotted to USAID.
Judge resigns after alleged illegal immigrant gang member arrested at family home
A New Mexico judge resigned from the bench after an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member was arrested at his home.
Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano’s resignation letter is dated March 3, but a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) told Fox News Digital it was not received by the Supreme Court and 3rd Judicial District Court until March 31.
Back in January, Homeland Security Investigations Las Cruces began looking into Venezuelan native Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, “an illegal alien from Venezuela and a suspected member of a criminal gang” who was “residing with other illegal aliens” and “in possession of firearms,” according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
On Feb. 28, two search warrants were executed at a home investigators identified as owned by Cano’s wife, Nancy Cano. Ortega-Lopez and his roommates were taken into custody, and agents “seized four firearms from April Cano’s residence.” April Cano is the daughter of Nancy and Joel, court documents state.
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Ortega-Lopez was found by investigators posing with weapons in social media posts, some of which he said were owned by April Cano, who “allowed him to hold and sometimes shoot various firearms.”
Ortega-Lopez admitted to illegally entering the U.S. from Mexico in December 2023, according to court documents. He allegedly told investigators he was living in an El Paso apartment with five others when he met Nancy Cano “to install a glass door for her.”
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“He continued to do a few jobs for Nancy Cano, and after being evicted from the apartment in April, 2024, Nancy Cano offered her ‘casita’ in the back of the residence she shared with her husband Joel Cano,” court documents state.
The suspect made his first appearance in a Las Cruces court on March 3. During a detention hearing on March 14, U.S. Magistrate Judge Damian L. Martinez “asked Assistant United States Attorney (‘AUSA’) Maria Armijo if she knew Judge Cano.”
When Armijo said she did not, Judge Martinez said he had met him outside the courtroom “several times,” adding, “I don’t think he would just let anybody live in his property.”
Martinez ruled Ortega-Lopez “was not a flight risk or danger to the community” and ordered him to be released. On April 8, a motion was filed by an assistant U.S. attorney to reconsider Ortega-Lopez’s pretrial release order.
Records from Doña Ana County Assessor’s Office say the home Ortega-Lopez was arrested at is owned by both Nancy and Jose Cano, who goes by Joel.
Cano’s resignation letter stated his last day on the job was March 21.
“All the best to everyone of you,” Joel Cano wrote. “I wish all of you a happy retirement once you are ready yourself.”
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The AOC spokesman told Fox News Digital via email that Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham “will appoint someone to fill the vacancy through the remainder of the judge’s unexpired four-year term that runs until the end of 2026.”
“The Supreme Court has scheduled an oral argument on April 24, which is public and will be live streamed, concerning Judge Cano,” spokesman Barry Massey said.
Sewage ‘crisis’ in US military training waters echoes 20th century, decades-long disaster
“Disgusting,” said Navy SEAL veteran Rob Sweetman in describing the smell and mist of Mexican sewage spewing into U.S. waters as he stood on a hill overlooking the Tijuana River estuary in California.
Sweetman, a Navy veteran who served on the SEALs for eight years, spoke to Fox News Digital to sound the alarm on a water crisis rocking the San Diego area, including where SEALs train, taking a camera with him to show viewers firsthand how the contaminated water flows into the U.S.
Just one mile away from where Sweetman spoke, SEALs and candidates train in the same water, which has sickened more than 1,000 candidates in a five-year period, per a Department of Defense watchdog report released in February.
San Diego and the surrounding area are in a clean-water crisis that has raged for decades, but it is finding revived concern from the Trump administration as SEALs and local veterans warn of a “national security crisis” that they say is on par with the Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, water crisis.
Thousands of Marines and others were sickened at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune base between 1953 and 1987 as a result of water contaminated by industrial solvents used to drink, bathe and cook at the training facilities and on-base housing.
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Kate Monroe, a Marine Corps veteran and CEO of VetComm — which advocates for disabled veterans and those navigating the VA’s complicated health system — told Fox Digital in an April Zoom interview, “San Diego County is as big as some states. It’s giant. Millions of people live here and are breathing the air of this water. It goes well beyond the military. It’s a crisis. It’s a FEMA-level travesty, and we have just been hiding it.”
The Navy has deep roots in the San Diego area, with the United States Naval Special Warfare Command headquartered in America’s Finest City and where Navy SEAL candidates complete their arduous six-month Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.
The sewage problem flowing from neighboring Mexico into the U.S. has percolated in San Diego for years.
But the water crisis hit crisis level when it was reported in 2024 that 44 billion gallons of contaminated water imbued with raw sewage was released along the California coast in 2023, the most on record since at least 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time.
The issue of sewage water flowing into U.S. waters is largely attributed to outdated wastewater infrastructure across the southern border, local media outlets recently reported, with Mexico reportedly in the midst of addressing its infrastructure to curb the leaks of sewage water.
The Tijuana River has for decades been plagued by sewage and waste that has affected its beaches and neighboring San Diego.
In February, the Department of Defense’s inspector general released a report finding that the Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January 2019 and May 2023 alone.
“Navy SEAL candidate exposure to contaminated water occurred because (Naval Special Warfare Command) did not follow San Diego County’s Beach and Bay Water Quality Program’s beach closure postings,” the inspector general report found. “As a result of Navy SEAL candidate exposure to contaminated water during training, candidates are presented with increased health risks and NAVSPECWARCOM’s training mission could be impacted.”
‘IBS, GERD, skin issues, weird cancers’
It was when Monroe, who is well-versed with veteran health through VetComm, was working with SEALs who were retiring that she realized the severity of the San Diego water pollution of the past few years.
She observed an increase in health claims related to intestinal issues and “weird cancers,” which was a departure from typical claims related to PTSD or orthopedic ailments.
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“I started creating relationships with the SEAL teams, the people that were exiting the SEALs, you know, at 14 years, 20 years, nearing their retirement,” Monroe told Fox News Digital. “And the claims that we were making for these guys were surprising to me because a lot of them, they have combat PTSD, a lot of orthopedic issues. But we were having guys coming to us with, like, IBS, GERD, skin issues, weird cancers, and they were all attributing it to their time spent in San Diego training to be a SEAL in that water here that we have in San Diego.”
Swimming and spending time in water contaminated with feces can lead to a host of illnesses, including bacterial, viral and parasitic infections that leave people nauseous, vomiting and rushing to the bathroom.
Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum was only days from entering the SEAL’s aptly named Hell Week — the fourth week of basic conditioning for SEAL candidates — when nausea hit him. He was trapped in a cycle of drinking water and vomiting when he realized a serious illness had its grips on him.
Gum is a retired SEAL who served from 2007 to 2017 and was exposed to the contaminated water in 2008 during BUD/S training off the San Diego coast.
“I couldn’t stop,” Gum recounted of how he couldn’t keep water down without vomiting. “You never really want to go to medical because they can pull you out or make you get rolled to the next class, but I couldn’t even drink water without throwing up. It’s the only time in my whole life that this has happened.”
Gum’s nausea overcame him on a Friday in 2008, with Hell Week kicking off that Sunday night. Hell Week is a more than five-day training that puts candidates through rigorous training, including cold-water immersion, “surf torture,” buoy swims, mud runs, all while operating on minimal sleep.
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“The sun goes down, and the instructors come out with big machine guns, that kicks it off,” Gum said of how Hell Week began. “We run out to the beach, right into the ocean. You spend the rest of the week soaking wet, covered in sand. And everywhere you go, you have a 200-pound boat on your head that you and your boat crew of six to seven guys will share the weight of, and you just run everywhere.”
“You’re just in the water. There’s no escaping it. It’s part of what makes BUD/S BUD/S. And it’s part of what makes the Navy SEALs America’s premier maritime special operators,” he said. “There’s not getting around how comfortable we have to be in the water. Cold, wet, miserable, doesn’t matter, we suck it up and we do it.”
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Gum received IVs the weekend ahead of Hell Week and was able to keep food and water down by the time the intense training began, but he had been diagnosed with viral gastroenteritis, commonly known as the stomach flu and highly contagious, which then morphed into rhabdomyolysis due to exerting so much energy while dehydrated from viral gastroenteritis
Rhabdomyolysis is a serious illness that causes muscle to break down quickly and can lead to “muscle death” and the release of high levels of myoglobin in the blood that can injure a person’s kidneys.
Gum failed the first phase of BUD/S, but he was granted permission to return to training for a second time after senior leaders saw he had viral gastroenteritis. Gum again went through the first phase of BUD/S, but again he went to medical, where tests showed that his “blood came back toxic” from rhabdomyolysis.
The SEAL was put on medical leave and able to fully recover in his home state of Pennsylvania before he “crushed” the hellish training on his third try. He served on SEAL Team Five, deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, and taught combatives and prisoner handling to SEAL trainees in San Diego from 2013 until his retirement in 2017.
Sweetman told Fox Digital that “everyone who goes through training is going to get sick.”
“They’re going to get infections, and it’s terrible,” Sweetman told Fox Digital in an April Zoom interview. “And some might argue that this is Navy SEAL training. You have to go through the toughest conditions to be able to survive and make it. I would say that it’s gotten a little bit out of hand.”
The SEAL vet, who lives in the San Diego area, said the issue has gotten worse in recent years as Tijuana’s population grows.
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“When I went through training, it was absolutely a thing that they’d shut down the Imperial Beach because the ocean water was so bad, because the waste coming from Tijuana had infected the water,” Sweetman said. “You could always smell it. And oftentimes, even in the bay, we’d need to wash our wet suit after being out on a swim.”
“Now, some of the training causes us to be deeply immersed in the water, and infections and all types of things can come up from being in the water. But I’ll say that it has gotten significantly worse as the population has doubled in Tijuana.”
‘A huge national crisis’
Gum and Monroe both said that water issue is a crisis, with Gum identifying it as a national security crisis that could cull well-suited candidates from the SEALs due to acute illnesses as well as sicken active SEALs.
“This is a huge national crisis,” he said. “Like half the SEAL teams are located in San Diego, the other half are in Virginia Beach. So when you’ve got half the SEAL teams who are getting exposed to this, then it’s a major issue.”
Monroe called it the “next Camp Lejeune” crisis, which sickened Marines with contaminated drinking water at the North Carolina Marine Corps base camp for nearly three decades. The crisis has cost the U.S. billions of dollars, including legal costs and settlements to vets and their families.
“This is going to be, in my opinion, the next Camp Lejeune water problem that cost our government $21 to $25 billion,” she said. “That’s just in the compensation directly, like the lawsuit portion of it. That doesn’t cover all the compensation you have to pay these veterans tax-free for the rest of their lives. I would say that this issue here in San Diego, if you look at it over the time that people have been training here, you’re looking at another $21 to $25 billion, plus all of the compensation that’s going to come. It would be cheaper for our country to fix this than it would to allow it to continue.”
The three veterans who spoke to Fox Digital all responded with optimism that the Trump administration will tackle the crisis and end it.
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Fox Digital exclusively reported earlier in April that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is heading to San Diego to meet with SEALs and see the crisis firsthand April 22, 2025.
“The raw sewage flowing from Mexico into the Tijuana River is creating serious, detrimental issues for communities with affected waterways,” Zeldin told Fox Digital ahead of the Tuesday trip.
“Ensuring America’s waters are clean is part of EPA’s core mission, and I look forward to being on the ground in San Diego in a few days to assess the situation and hear directly from those affected,” he said. “It is top-of-mind knowing that as this issue persists, more and more Navy SEALs remain at risk of sickness because of the contaminated waterways they train in. I strongly believe the time has come to finalize and implement an urgent strategy to end decades of raw sewage entering the U.S.”
A spokesperson for Naval Special Warfare added in a comment to Fox News Digital that SEALs and candidates’ health are a top priority and that officials are monitoring water quality in areas where they train.
“The Navy takes the health and safety of our personnel very seriously,” the spokesperson said. “Water quality at Navy training locations on the beach waterfront is closely monitored in coordination with local authorities. We are fully committed to ensuring warfighters at U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command train in a safe environment.”
Ahead of Zeldin’s visit, the water flowing from Mexico into the U.S. is as “nasty” as ever, according to Sweetman.
“What I see here is a tremendous amount of green, nasty water,” Sweetman said while pointing at the murky water. “I mean, you can smell it. This is disgusting. As it pours through, it doesn’t clear up. There’s no clarity to it. It just turns into a foam. And the foam sits on top of the water where it’s murky and it just continues to flow towards Imperial Beach and the ocean down here.”
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“It’s absolutely disgusting. I can’t comment strongly enough about how bad it is to be here. I’m here specifically because I want people to see just how bad it is,” he said. “The moment that I leave here, I’m going to go take a shower.”
Proposals to keep trans athletes out of girls sports in blue state fail
Two proposals that would have restricted transgender athletes from participating in girls and women’s sports in the state of Washington failed in a Monday vote.
The amendments needed 60% of the vote to pass — the proposal limiting girls sports participation to biological females got 31 of 53 votes (58.5%), and the other that would have created an open division for students aside from boys and girls competitions — garnered just 24.5% (13 out of 53).
Washington state law currently protects transgender individuals from discrimination under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD). So, even if the acts had passed, there was still another clear hurdle in the way.
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The Lynden school board proposed the idea of only those born female participating in girls sports. That proposal, the Cascadia Daily says, also would have made the boys division an “open” category.
“It is clear to our girl athletes that competing against other athletes who have gone through male puberty is unfair,” Lynden superintendent David VanderYacht said, via the Cascadia Daily. “They asked us to address it, and the Lynden School Board is attempting to do so in a manner that respects and honors the dignity of all students.”
The Trump administration recently froze funding to the state of Maine due to the state not following President Donald Trump’s executive order that says transgender athletes must compete against their gender from birth. However, a federal judge ruled that the administration must “unfreeze” those funds and is not able to revert “without complying with the legally required procedure.”
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The USDA announced the funding freeze and a review of federal funding to Maine earlier this month after the state refused to provide equal opportunities to women and girls in educational programs.
Maine officials filed a lawsuit against the USDA last week following the agency’s decision to freeze funding to the state.
The state accused the USDA of “withholding funding used to feed children in schools, childcare centers, and after-school programming as well as disabled adults in congregate settings,” an argument the judge agreed with.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, recently called for the issues between the administration and her state to be “resolved,” saying that she would continue to fight for federal funding for the state while also being against transgender athletes in biological female sports.
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The Department of Education also launched an investigation into the state due to the issue.
Dick Van Dyke ignored warnings about 46-year age gap with wife
When Dick Van Dyke first laid eyes on Arlene Silver, he was instantly smitten.
It was 2006, and the much younger Silver was working as a makeup artist at the SAG Awards. But for the “Mary Poppins” star, age was just a number.
“I never said hello to a strange girl in my life. I was too scared,” the actor told People magazine on Sunday.
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“But I was at a show backstage, and she walked by, and for some reason, I just jumped up and said, ‘Hi, I’m Dick,’” the 99-year-old recalled. “There’s something about her that got me, and I was right.”
Van Dyke went on to hire Silver for other projects. Despite their 46-year age gap, they said “I do” in 2012.
“We get along so well,” said Van Dyke. “Everybody said it wouldn’t work.”
“It’s… eerie how well it works,” chimed Silver, 53. “People the same age don’t last.”
“We just care about each other so much,” she shared. “He’s made me feel like I can do anything.”
When it comes to date nights, the couple told the outlet they like to keep things simple.
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“We just love being home,” Silver explained. “We love Malibu, and it’s our favorite place, our house especially… We’re so grateful. Our house did get hit by the Franklin fire, but in the scheme of things, we got very lucky.”
Back in 2022, the actor admitted to Closer Weekly that he worried the public would object to their age gap.
“I thought there would be an outcry about a gold digger marrying an old man,” he told the outlet at the time. “But no one ever took that attitude.”
“We share an attitude,” he reflected. “She can go with the flow. She loves to sing and dance, which we do almost every day. She’s just delightful.”
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Silver said life with Van Dyke is blissful.
“He is the most perfect human being,” she said. “I’ve never met anyone so happy, so genuine, so amazing. He’s just like a happy pill.”
Van Dyke said his secret to longevity is to “keep moving.”
“I’ve been one of those lucky people that got to do something for a living that he would have done for nothing,” he previously told the outlet. “That’s why I’m still here… They can’t get me off the stage.”
The star credited his stamina to “good genes and not getting hit by a bus.”
“I’ve always been an exerciser and still am,” the actor told the outlet. “I go to the gym three days a week, get in the pool and exercise. At my age, they say to keep moving. Put me on solid ground and I’ll start tapping.”
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Van Dyke shared he does water aerobics, lifts weights and walks on a treadmill.
Back in 2015, Van Dyke wrote a book titled “Keep Moving and Other Tips and Truths About Aging,” where he candidly shared his advice about enjoying old age.
“Keep moving is the main thing,” Van Dyke told NPR at the time. “I think I reiterate three or four times in the book, ‘Do not start going down the stairs sideways.’ It feels good on your knees, but it throws the hips out and the back starts to go out, the next thing you know, you’ve fallen down and broken your hip. So even if it hurts a little, go down the stairs front-ways.”
“It’s more in my nature to be optimistic, I think,” he continued. “I’m one of those people who gets up on the right side of the bed in the morning. I get up and have a cup of coffee and go to the gym because I talk myself out of it because I will, as anybody will.”
“Everybody should dance,” he explained. “And everybody should sing. People say, ‘Well, I can’t sing.’ Everybody can sing. That you do it badly is no reason not to sing. I have a beautiful, young wife who sings and dances, so there’s a lot of [duets] going on at my house.”
Still, Van Dyke admitted he does have regrets — but he doesn’t let the past prevent him from enjoying his life today.
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“Well, I would not have smoked or drunk anything,” said Van Dyke on what he would have done differently.
“I think that set me back. There are times that I feel like apologizing to my body for the way I treated it… I have arthritis and all those things, but I keep moving… I didn’t discover dancing and singing until I was in my 30s. It just happened out of nowhere. I regret that I didn’t train a little or take some vocal coaching or something. But I just enjoyed what I had and had fun with it. If I had to go back, I’d train.”
Van Dyke told the outlet that his wife keeps him on his toes.
“I sometimes forget that we’re doing a great experiment here — 46 years difference,” said Van Dyke. “And we work at it to some extent. There’s got to be some understanding, find out what old habits don’t work anymore. It takes some adjusting and fitting in, but that’s part of the fun of it.”
Borrowers who stopped paying student loans now in for a rude awakening with policy change
The Department of Education is poised to resume collections on defaulted federal student loans in May for the first time since 2020.
While the first Trump administration paused referring federal student loans to collections in March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the extended lapse has prompted Trump administration officials to worry that the federal student loan portfolio is “headed toward a fiscal cliff if we don’t start repayment in collections,” according to a senior department official.
“The result has been that the federal government student loan portfolio has continued to grow, and we’ve got a record number of borrowers that are at risk of or in delinquency and default,” the senior department official told reporters Monday.
The official said that only 40% percent of borrowers are up to speed on their loan repayments, while the remaining 60% are behind.
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Altogether, the official said that there are 4 million borrowers who are in the late-stage delinquency stage on payments, meaning that they are between 91 days and 180 days late on payments.
“The Trump administration, [the] current administration, believes that American taxpayers can no longer serve as collateral for student loans,” the senior department official said. “Student loan debt must be paid back.”
Likewise, the official said the agency would roll out a communications plan to let borrowers know their status and encourage them to enroll in auto-debit to drive down the number of delinquent borrowers.
The policy takes effect May 5, when the Education Department will partner with the Treasury Offset Program to start collecting overdue payments.
The official also said the Department of Education is preparing to join with lawmakers on efforts to reform higher education and the student loan repayment system in place.
“Going forward, we totally believe that Congress has a role to play in fixing the higher education system that puts students in a position where they can afford their loan payments,” the senior department official said. “So we’re looking forward to working with Congress on their efforts to streamline loan repayment as well as lowering college costs.”
Bipartisan legislation in the works includes the Employer Participation Repayment Act, which Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced in February that would make permanent a provision set to expire in 2026 authorizing employers to contribute up to $5,250 tax-free to their employees’ student loans.
Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., and Scott Peters, D-Calif., introduced the legislation in the House.
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Nearly 43 million student borrowers have federal student loan debt, which amounts to an outstanding federal student loan balance of $1.6 trillion, according to data from the Department of Education.
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The Department of Education’s announcement comes after the Trump administration unveiled plans in March to overhaul the agency, aligning with campaign promises by the president to eliminate the federal government’s influence over education to “stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth.”
Even so, President Donald Trump announced that functions of the department overseeing Pell Grants, student loans and others that provide services for those with special needs would continue at other agencies.
Drag queen tells critics to ‘f— all the way off’ after high court makes it clear what a woman is
The UK Supreme Court’s landmark ruling limiting the definition of a woman to biological sex stirred outrage among the stars of BBC’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK,” who pledged to “fight back” against the decision they say will “marginalize” the transgender community.
“The fight back starts today,” season one runner-up Divina De Campo wrote in an X post last Wednesday, adding, “We will not go back into the shadows to make you comfortable. F— all the way off.”
LGBTQ+ news outlet PinkNews reported on season two finalist Tayce’s rage expressed through Instagram with posts calling the UK Supreme Court a “POS [piece of s—]” while voicing solidarity with affected “trans brothers and sisters.”
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“Nothing or no-one can erase YOU,” one post read in part.
The UK court of five judges gave the unanimous ruling last Wednesday, meaning, under the UK Equality Act, biological males identifying as women can be excluded from spaces reserved solely for women – including changing rooms, homeless shelters, swimming areas and medical or counseling services.
The ruling means that even a transgender person with a certificate that recognizes them as female can lawfully be excluded from such specific single-sex spaces.
However, Justice Patrick Hodge said the court’s ruling “does not remove protection from trans people,” who are “protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment.”
FEDERAL JUDGE RULES AGAINST PARENTS SEEKING TO PROTEST TRANSGENDER ATHLETES WITH WRISTBAND
Trans activists like “Drag Race: UK vs. the World” winner Tia Kofi also reacted to the court’s decision, PinkNews reported, with multiple stories directly addressing the camera.
“We, now more than ever, must be allies to the trans community. It cannot just be trans people who are expected to raise their voices to fight for their own existence,” Kofi declared in one posting.
While the decision was met with resistance from transgender activists, women’s rights activists like “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling celebrated the outcome.
TRANSGENDER ACTIVIST CLAIMS ‘SCIENCE IS ON OUR SIDE’ WHILE PUSHING DEMOCRATS TO FIGHT BACK ON THE ISSUE
“Everyone knows what sex is and you can’t change it,” said For Women Scotland co-director Susan Smith, whose organization brought the case.
“It’s common sense, basic common sense and the fact that we have been down a rabbit hole where people have tried to deny science and to deny reality and hopefully this will now see us back to, back to reality.”
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Vatican officials seal door to Pope Francis’ residence shut after his death
A picture shows a Catholic cardinal sealing Pope Francis’ residence after his death on Monday.
Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Joseph Farrell was seen sealing the door to the papal bedroom and studio at the Vatican shortly after the announcement of the pontiff’s death.
It is traditional to seal the pope’s doors after his death, which will be followed by a nine-day mourning period called Novemdiales.
Catholics across the world are remembering Pope Francis for his warmth and friendliness in the wake of his death on Monday.
A video from 2022 showed Pope Francis greeting and joking with a crowd of people in St. Peter’s Square. Someone behind the camera thanked the pontiff for greeting the audience despite his well-documented knee pain.
The pope, listening with a straight face, then told the crowd his latest idea for pain relief.
“Do you know what I need for my knee?” the pope responded, breaking into a smile. “Some tequila!”
Read the full article about Pope Francis by Timothy H.J. Nerozzi
The first-ever Iraq visit by a pope could’ve ended disastrously, but a foiled assassination plot ended up enabling Pope Francis to write about the event in retrospect.
Francis, who died on Monday, wrote about the 2021 incident in his autobiography. During his trip to Mosul, Iraq, a tip from British intelligence made waves through authorities and alerted the Vatican military police to two threats.
“Almost everyone advised me against that trip,” he wrote.
A would-be suicide bomber strapped with explosives was headed toward the city with the intent of detonating herself, according to Politico. The second, the pontiff said, was a van containing explosives that had charged toward the same area with the “same intent.”
Read the full article about Pope Francis by Taylor Penley
Pope Francis’ will, which was released after his death on Monday, outlined his desire to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore, a basilica in Rome.
One of Rome’s four papal basilicas, seven popes are buried at Santa Maria Maggiore (which translates to Saint Mary Major in English).
Francis will be the first pope buried outside the Vatican in over 100 years, and the first Pope buried at Santa Maria Maggiore in over 350 years.
The last time a pope was buried outside the Vatican was in 1924. Pope Leo XIII died in 1903 and was initially buried in the Vatican in 1903; his remains were later moved to the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome in 1924.
Fox News’ Emily Reynolds contributed to this report.
Footage shows thousands of Catholics gathering in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City to pray following the death of Pope Francis.
Many attendants were observed crying and holding rosary beads. Hundreds of nuns were also in attendance.
Some mourners brought Palestinian flags to wave, a reference to Pope Francis’ humanitarian view towards suffering in Gaza.
One of the most controversial aspects of Pope Francis’ legacy as the leader of the Catholic Church is his decision to restrict an older form of the Catholic liturgy known as the Traditional Latin Mass.
Francis explained that he decided to restrict the Latin Mass because he was concerned its use was leading to division in the Church. Francis said he felt the more ancient mass was “being used in an ideological way” in reaction to modernity, including the more modern Vatican II mass.
The mass — from the Latin word “missa,” which means “sacrifice” — consists of the “Liturgy of the Word” and “Liturgy of the Eucharist,” the latter of which is considered the most sacred and highest form of worship by Catholics.
Read the full article about Pope Francis by Peter Pinedo
On Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump announced his intentions to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome.
The president announced the plans in a brief Truth Social post.
“Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome. We look forward to being there!” the post read.
U.S. presidents mourned the death of Pope Francis, who served as the leader of the Catholic Church for 12 years, on Monday following the Vatican’s announcement of the pope’s passing.
“Rest in Peace Pope Francis!” President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday. “May God Bless him and all who loved him!”
The College of Cardinals elected Pope Francis, 88, to serve as the pope following Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013. His election marked the first time a non-European served as pope in more than 1,000 years. Pope Francis, born with the name Jorge Mario Bergoglio, originally hailed from Argentina.
Read the full article about Pope Francis by Diana Stancy
For over 12 years, Pope Francis, who died on Monday at 88 years old, worked tirelessly to preserve unity within the Church and its allies, including the British royal family.
Prince William will attend the funeral services for Pope Francis in representation of the royal family, royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital.
Additionally, says Turner, “Flags are being lowered at half-mast on Royal residences and during the Changing of the Guard daily ceremonies, sombre music will be played.”
Read the full article about Prince William by Christina Dugan Ramirez
The City of New Orleans issued a heartfelt message about the death of Pope Francis on Monday, calling the deceased pontiff a “guiding light for millions, embodying the values of love, mercy, and inclusion.”
“On behalf of the City of New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell extends her heartfelt condolences to the family of Pope Francis, the Vatican, and the global Catholic community on the passing of His Holiness,” the statement read.
“We invite the people of New Orleans to prayerfully reflect on the life and legacy of Pope Francis a spiritual leader who dedicated his life to compassion, humility, and justice for all. We honor his unwavering commitment to human dignity, social equity, and peace.”
“It is our prayer that he now rests in God’s eternal peace.”
Vatican officials released Pope Francis’ will on Monday evening, hours after the pontiff passed away of a stroke.
The will was written in June 2022 and explains the pope’s preferences for his burial.
“Feeling that the sunset of my earthly life is approaching and with lively hope in the Eternal Life, I wish to express my testamentary will only with regard to the place of my Burial,” the will begins.
“I have always entrusted my life and the priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy. Therefore, I ask that my mortal remains rest waiting for the day of the resurrection in the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore,” the document continues.
Francis said that he wanted his “last earthly journey to end in this ancient sanctuary.”
The will also asks for Francis to be buried in the earth, “without particular decorum and with the only inscription: Franciscus.”
Fox News’ Thomas Ferraro contributed to this update.
Pope Francis, who changed the face of the papacy, was broadly popular with the more than 60 million U.S. Catholics, according to recent public opinion polling.
Seventy-eight percent of American Catholics expressed a favorable opinion of the pope in a Pew Poll conducted in early February, shortly before Francis’ lengthy hospitalization for a case of double pneumonia.
The 88-year-old pope died on Monday. Francis’ popularity among American Catholics was constant throughout his dozen-year tenure as pope, with his favorability peaking at 90% in a February 2015 poll by Pew.
Read the full article about Pope Francis by Paul Steinhauser
Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke, according to an update by Vatican officials on Monday afternoon.
Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, the head of the Vatican’s health department, said that the stroke put him into a coma and led to irreversible heart failure.
Arcangeli added that Francis also suffered from episodes of “respiratory insufficiency,” as well as his recent bilateral pneumonia. The pope also suffered from type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
The Associated Press contributed to this update.
Faith leaders from across the country are sharing reaction and insight with Fox News Digital as the world mourns the loss of Pope Francis, who died at age 88 on Monday, April 21.
Francis served for 12 years as pontiff. He was the first Jesuit to serve as pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
Dr. Alex McFarland, youth, religion and culture expert, is the author of more than 20 books. He told Fox News Digital on Monday morning, “Christians everywhere, regardless of affiliation, should extend loving condolences and prayers for Catholic believers who are mourning the loss of Pope Francis. Belief in the Triune God and in Christ, the Son, unites us (I John 5:1), along with so many other core truths of the Christian faith. Let us unite in prayer for the Catholic Church to be clearly led at this time by God’s Holy Spirit and His Word.”
Pastor Wendell Vinson, co-founder of CityServe and based in Bakersfield, California, told Fox News Digital, “Today, we join with the Catholic Church and people of faith across the globe in mourning the death of Pope Francis. A man known for his humility and care for the least of these, his life is a shining example of service to those the world has often overlooked.
“This same spirit characterized his work on behalf of the persecuted and oppressed around the world.”
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, shared with Fox News Digital, “Catholics around the globe are mourning the death of Pope Francis. He touched millions of the faithful, including non-Catholics and non-believers. When Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio assumed the role of Pope Francis, his down-to-earth style captured the plaudits of Catholics and non-Catholics alike. It was his unscripted, and often spontaneous, manner of speaking that made him so authentic and appealing.”
Fox News’ Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
After the death of a pope, the College of Cardinals is responsible for gathering at the Sistine Chapel and electing a new sovereign of the Vatican and Roman Catholic Church.
In December 2024, Pope Francis installed 21 new cardinals at a consistory. In 1970, Pope Paul VI set a 120-man limit to a papal conclave, a meeting or election of the College of Cardinals.
At the time Pope Francis expanded the college to 142 men, his 10th consistory during his reign as the pope, controversial selections sparked whispers in the Catholic community regarding Pope Francis’ agenda for the duration of his papacy and after his death.
Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Mykola Bychok, 44, was revealed as one of Pope Francis’ cardinal picks in October 2024. The decision received backlash as Major Archbishop of Kyiv, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, was passed over for red cassocks and headgear. Shevchuk was critical of Pope Francis’ reaction to the ongoing war with Russia, though Pope Francis accepted an invitation from the archbishop to visit Ukraine in 2025.
Pope Francis most recently maintained a prominent Italian presence in the college installing five new cardinals from across Italy.
While the consistory is overflowing, only 138 cardinals will vote in the next election as senior members above 80 years old cannot vote.
Italian prelate Pietro Parolin, 70, is a senior cardinal bishop, a high ranking position in the College of Cardinals. Parolin is the highest ranking member of the college under the age of 80. Parolin is considered a “moderate” cardinal in the church.
The two most senior cardinal bishops are Italian prelate Giovanni Battista Re, 91, and Argentine prelate Leonardo Sandri, 81.
Thai prelate Michael Michai Kitbunchu, 96, Asia’s oldest cardinal, is the most senior ranking cardinal priest.
During his papacy, Pope Francis made efforts to be more inclusive of Catholics in the LGBTQ+ community and remarked on same-sex civil unions.
Italian prelate Matteo Zuppi is pro-LGBTQ and made headlines when he was accused of holding a mass to bless a same-sex couple. He is floated as a possible replacement to Pope Francis.
Hungarian prelate Peter Erdö is being tossed around as a replacement to Pope Francis and is considered a conservative who devotes his personal faith to the Virgin Mary.
Former President Bill Clinton released a statement Monday saying “Hillary and I mourn the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis and celebrate his remarkable life and legacy: promoting peace, economic inclusion, and social justice, and fighting climate change, particularly its threat to the lives and livelihoods of the world’s poorest citizens.”
“By his own example, he taught that every human being’s personal search – even a Pope’s — for a purposeful life was meaningful and important, and that power and politics must always make room for compassion and coexistence,” Clinton continued.
“We join with countless millions of people around the world, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, in prayers of gratitude for a life well lived, rooted in faith, filled with energy and purpose, and dedicated to reconciliation and cooperation,” he added.
Pope Francis has rarely clashed publicly with world leaders since being elected to the Catholic Church’s top job in 2013, instead taking a diplomatic approach to world affairs.
Pope Francis became the first Pope to be invited to speak in front of the G7 Summit last year, where he warned world leaders about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence.
The Pope has met with many world leaders in recent years, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and King Charles III, the latter of whom visited Francis at the Vatican.
When it comes to American president’s, the Pope has at times had a rocky relationship. In a 2022 interview, the pope described former President Biden’s stance on abortion rights an “incoherence,” given Biden’s Catholic faith.
Francis has also clashed with President Donald Trump
, who the Pope was highly critical of during his 2016 bid for president and throughout his first term in office.
Those clashes with Trump continued into Trump’s second stint in the Oval Office, with Francis recently speaking out against Trump’s border and immigration enforcement efforts.
Fox News’ Michael Lee contributed reporting.
Crowds are gathering at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Monday in New York City to mourn the loss of Pope Francis.
A photograph of Francis was placed on the altar, alongside flowers.
Francis visited New York City in 2015, stopping by the 9/11 Memorial to place a rose, in addition to holding a mass at Madison Square Garden and driving through Central Park in the Popemobile.
Around two-thirds of the number of cardinals currently eligible to vote in a conclave were appointed by Pope Francis, a report said.
Francis appointed 81 men who are still under the age of 80, the LaCroix International newspaper reported in June 2023.
It added that those cardinals will become part of a 121-member group who are eligible to choose the next pope in a conclave.
An extremely diverse group of Catholic pontiffs have headed the Church through periods of ostracism, growth, schism and upheaval.
Peter was the first pope, serving for 34 years. Anointed by Jesus to lead his church, Peter spread his word before being crucified under Emperor Nero.
Evaristus, the first non-Italian pope, was elected in 96 AD. The Grecian Evaristus’ Jewish father was from Bethlehem.
The youngest pope, elected in 1032, was Benedict IX. Historians believe he was 12 when elected. He was ousted multiple times during his volatile tenure. He became pope on three separate occasions before his death in 1056.
Elected during the Renaissance in 1471, Pope Sixtus IV elevated the Church’s stature by overseeing construction projects in Rome, employing renowned artists in the construction of the Sistine Chapel, named after Sixtus himself.
The shortest-tenured pope, Urban VII, reigned just 13 days before his death from malaria in 1590. During his brief reign, he proposed anti-nepotism and health measures in Rome.
The oldest living pontiff, Leo XIII died in 1903 at 93 years old after a 25-year tenure.
Pope John XXIII responded to increased secularism by convening the Second Vatican Council in 1962. Spawning enduring and continuing change, the council increased outreach outside the Church and allowed masses to be offered in local languages.
The first Polish pope and the youngest elected in over a century, John Paul II was just 58 when elected in 1978. John Paul II apologized to groups wronged by Catholics through history and advocated against violence.
Pope Benedict XVI, was the first pope to resign in some 600 years, in 2013 at 85. During his tenure, Benedict embraced technology and addressed priests’ abuse of children.
Fox News’ Beth Bailey contributed reporting.
Upon the death of a pope, the camerlengo of the Holy Catholic Church is the first to be notified.
The named camerlengo runs the Vatican in case of a pope’s death or resignation until a new one is elected.
When a pope is anticipated dead, the camerlengo formally determines the pope’s passing by calling out his baptismal name three times. If there is no response, the pope is pronounced dead.
Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell — a former Dallas, Texas, bishop — is the present camerlengo. He was appointed by Pope Francis in 2019.
During this time, the pope’s ring and bulla, a lead seal, are destroyed in the presence of other cardinals as a symbol that his reign has ended and to prevent misuse of his signature on formal documents. Additionally, the pope’s papal apartments are locked to forbid looting and the protection of his will.
Word that the pope has passed moves through official channels to notify the College of Cardinals, the vicar of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, and then the public.
Bishop Robert Barron, a widely read Catholic commentator and author, paid tribute to Pope Francis for a papacy marked by “mercy and evangelization” after the news of his death on Monday.
Barron, who leads the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota and is the founder of the popular Catholic ministerial organization Word on Fire, praised Francis for recognizing the “destructiveness of sin.”
“Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936, has reached the end of his earthly pilgrimage,” Bishop Barron wrote in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. “Pope Francis was a great pastor who spoke from the heart and with tender affection.”
“I had the pleasure of meeting with Pope Francis several times during his papacy,” Bishop Barron continued. “On the occasions when he and I spoke, his comments would burn their way into my heart and mind. During a meeting with my fellow bishops, he reminded us that ‘the first task of a bishop is to pray.’”
“Pope Francis’ papacy was marked by two master themes: mercy and evangelization,” Barron wrote. “In an interview, he famously remarked that the Church is a field hospital to those wounded by our postmodern, relativistic society. It must, first and foremost, heal the wounds. Pope Francis had a keen awareness of the destructiveness of sin, and he encouraged the Church to show the world the merciful face of Christ. He also emphasized the importance of our personal witness to the light of faith, drawing others to the life-giving joy of the Gospel.”
The tradition of adopting a new name became common practice for newly-elected leaders of the Catholic Church by the eleventh century.
Roman pontiff “Mercurius” was the first pope to adopt a new name after ascending to his position in 533 AD. Feeling that he would “dishonor” his office with his pagan name, Mercurius became Pope John II, according to St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church.
Newly-chosen pontiffs may select their names for a variety of reasons. Some popes, including John II, chose names that honor a martyred predecessor. Others, like Pope Francis, selected names that signal their plans for the papacy. When selected for the role in 2013, Pope Francis told followers that he intended to emulate St. Francis of Assisi, “the man of the poor. The man of peace. The man who loved and cared for creation.”
In 1099, Pope Sergius IV, born Peter, chose his name out of respect for the first pope of the Catholic Church, St. Peter. No subsequent pope has named himself Peter.
Fox News’ Beth Bailey contributed to this report.
If there is any one thing that can be agreed upon by all parties about Pope Francis’s pontificate it is that it was disruptive and ambiguous on several levels. Many will rush to make an assessment of his legacy but this is premature, if not injurious. After all, we are still assessing past pontificates — never mind the broader legacy of Vatican II — and their implications for the life of the Church.
Despite the widespread and immediate attention given papal homilies, allocutions, documents, and international visits, it is helpful to remember that, until recently, Catholics rarely heard from the pope directly.
Pope Francis’s off-the-cuff remarks, often mid-flight, sometimes referred to as the “Airplane Magisterium,” have caused confusion and often necessitated clarification from the Vatican. While his approach to the environment has earned him the moniker “The Green Pope,” in practice he pretty much aligned with the teachings of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, particularly on population and life issues. In fact, to the surprise of some who have only superficially followed his pontificate, his stance on abortion was uncompromising — calling it “homicidal” and even likening it to “hiring a hitman” — even if he suggested it ought not be the constant focus.
At the inception of his papacy, Francis’s call to “make a mess” in the Church led to debates, divisions, and polarization. Perhaps surfacing these differences was a good thing. But it is possible, and likely, this may cause the cardinal electors in the upcoming conclave to select a more stabilizing figure.
Many people today see the Catholic Church as largely anachronistic, closed, and harsh — not at all empathetic to the real-life problems people face. Pope Francis seemed bent on deconstructing that perception by presenting a merciful, open, and maternal face of the Church. He might say that it is not enough to teach people what the Catechism says, we must inspire them to live it.
As the Church prepares for its next chapter, the lessons of Pope Francis’s papacy will undoubtedly shape its future trajectory. His legacy remains a work in progress, a testament to the evolving nature of the papal role in the modern world.
Before Pope Francis was elected by the College of Cardinals in 2013, Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger, served the Roman Catholic Church from 2005-2013.
Ratzinger was born in Bavaria, Germany. Upon witnessing horrific acts during the Nazi regime
, he desired to commit to the church at a young age. Ratzinger and his family experienced abuse and punishment at the hands of the Nazi Party. Despite his resolute disdain for the regime, at 14 years old, the Law on the Hitler Youth forced Ratzinger to join the paramilitary organization.
During his enrollment in the seminary, Ratzinger was drafted into World War II, putting his theology teachings on hold. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war by Americans for several months. Upon his release, he left the military and was ordained in 1951 alongside his brother.
Ratzinger was elected pope in 2005 and, during his papacy at the Vatican, preached a message of God’s eternal love, encouraged Catholics to remain faithful to God and implored the presence of love, joy and truth in life.
Citing health concerns, Ratzinger was the first pope to resign the papacy in 600 years in 2013.
He died at 95 years old in 2022.
Vice President JD Vance was one of the last visitors of Pope Francis before the first Jesuit to lead the Catholic Church died at age 88.
Vance met with Francis briefly on Sunday to exchange Easter greetings in one of the reception rooms of the Vatican hotel where he’d been living since being released from Rome’s Gemmlli Hospital on March 23.
The pope had been hospitalized for five weeks after surviving a severe case of pneumonia.
The 88-year-old pope on Sunday offered the Catholic vice president three big chocolate Easter eggs for Vance’s three young children, who did not attend, as well as a Vatican tie and rosaries.
“I know you have not been feeling great, but it’s good to see you in better health,” Vance told the pope. “Thank you for seeing me.”
Vance acknowledged news of the pope’s death early Monday.
The year 2025 has been designated as a Jubilee Year, a time of spiritual significance in the Catholic Church. Its origins trace back to the Old Testament’s Book of Leviticus, where Jews observed a sacred period focused on returning to God.
The first Jubilee year according to a Vatican fact sheet was proclaimed in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII. Some two million pilgrims were said to have visited Rome during that year.
On December 24, 2024, Pope Francis, known as “The Vicar of Christ on Earth,” opened the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s Basilica to Catholic pilgrims worldwide as a symbol of grace and forgiveness. Italy is expecting over 32 million tourists to visit the country this year as pilgrims come to mark the Jubilee.
Pope Francis was set to preside over Jubilee ceremonies, drawing Catholics eager to see him in Vatican City. However, his death has now cast a sad shadow over a time meant for joy, reflection, and renewal.
Fox News’ Jacqliene Mangini contributed reporting.
Over the course of his 12 years as the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, who died on Monday at the age of 88, connected with many of Hollywood’s elite.
“Titanic” star Leonardo DiCaprio met with the pope for a quick conversation while filming the documentary “Before the Flood” for National Geographic in 2016.
George and Amal Clooney met Pope Francis in May 2016, when they attended the “Un Muro o Un Ponte,” held by the religious leader at the Paul VI Hall in Vatican City.
While at the event, Clooney was recognized for his work with the Pope’s arts foundation, Scholas Occurrentes, and was presented with the Olive Medal of Peace.
Angelina Jolie met Pope Francis in January 2015, when she was invited to a private screening of her film, “Unbroken,” held at the Vatican.
Mark Wahlberg met Pope Francis when the leader of the Catholic Church visited the United States in 2015.
As part of his trip, he attended the Festival of Families in Philadelphia, where Wahlberg, an outspoken Catholic, acted as the master of ceremonies for the evening.
President Donald Trump ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff Monday following the death of Pope Francis.
The declaration comes after Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Rest in Peace, Pope Francis! May God bless him and all who loved him!”
“I just signed an executive order putting the flags of our country, all of them, all federal flags and state flags at half mast in honor of Pope Francis,” Trump said Monday. “He was a good man, worked hard. He loved the world. And it’s an honor to do that.”
The White House released a proclamation from Trump
stating: “As a mark of respect for the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset on the day of interment.
“I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations,” Trump added.
Trump, appearing Monday at the White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll event, also said “Easter is special.
“And it’s one of our favorite days. It’s one of our favorite periods of time. We’re honoring Jesus Christ. And, we’re going to honor Jesus Christ very powerfully throughout our lives, all throughout our lives. Not just now, all throughout our lives,” Trump said. “We’re bringing religion back in America. We’re bringing a lot of things back. But religion is coming back to America. That’s why you see the kind of numbers that you are seeing, the spirit and the kind of numbers that you’re seeing.”
U.S. President Donald Trump and various other world leaders issued comments responding to the news that Pope Francis passed away on Monday.
“Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!” Trump declared in a post on Truth Social.
Vice President JD Vance, who had just met with the pontiff on Easter Sunday, noted that he was happy to see the pope, who was clearly quite ill.
“I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID,” Vance said in a post on X, along with a link to the homily. “It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul.”
The White House X account issued a post that read, “Rest in Peace, Pope Francis.”
Just a few days after becoming pope, Pope Francis revealed his burial wishes upon his death.
In March 2013, Pope Francis was elected during a conclave by the Cardinals of the Catholic Church following Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to step down amid health concerns.
“It was his belief that he may not live very long,” Neomi DeAnda, a trained constructive theologian, told Fox News Digital. “He was already in his 70s when he was elected pope, and he wanted to be prepared when God called him home.”
Pope Francis selected the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore as his final resting place.
“It has some significance for his grandparents,” DeAnda told Fox News Digital. “His grandparents were the ones who immigrated to Argentina with his dad and, I believe that they lived close to and visited that Basilica.”
“That has been his favorite place to visit,” DeAnda also said. “It’s a place that he goes to every time that he is going on a trip. He goes there to pray before he goes on a trip.”
Though controversial, one of the least contentious 2025 Oscar-nominated films was “Conclave,” an Edward Berger-directed mystery thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini and Stanley Tucci, which brings to life the political and religious traditions regarding how Catholic cardinals elect a new pope.
The conclave will gather again in actuality as the Vatican revealed that Pope Francis, 88, the leader of the Catholic Church, passed on April 21, 2025, the day after Easter Sunday.
Though released in October 2024, “Conclave” struck a deep chord with viewers as Pope Francis’ declining health was made known to the public in February 2025. Pope Francis battled bilateral pneumonia in the months before his death.
The film closely follows the novel of the same name written by author Robert Harris.
“That was fairly accurate,” Dennis Doyle, professor emeritus at the University of Dayton in Ohio, told Fox News Digital. Doyle taught at the Catholic research university for 40 years.
“There were just a few differences, like some of the Latin wasn’t exact, the carpet was red in the movie and its beige in real life,” Doyle said. “The seating arrangements were done very dramatically in the movie. They’re not exactly that way in real life. And even the way the voting was done was not exactly the same.”
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Monday that “the Bishops of the United States unite in prayer with Catholics here and around the world and all people of good will in gratitude for the life of our revered shepherd.”
“We mourn the passing of our Holy Father and beg Saint Joseph to accompany him. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord,” Broglio said in a statement following the death of Pope Francis.
“Pope Francis will long be remembered for his outreach to those on the margins of the Church and of society. He renewed for us the mission to bring the Gospel out to the ends of the earth and offer divine mercy to all,” Broglio added. “He has also taken advantage of the present Jubilee to call us to a profound hope: one that is not an empty or naïve hope, but one grounded in the promise of Almighty God to be with us always.”
A death verification ceremony for Pope Francis will happen at 2 p.m. ET today in the chapel adjacent to his Saint Martha residence inside Vatican City.
After the body lies in rest in the chapel, the cardinal serving as the pope’s camerlengo, the Vatican official who manages the papal household, will make the arrangements for the funeral. He is also tasked with running the Vatican until a new pope is elected. The current camerlengo is Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, appointed by Francis in 2019.
The deceased pope will be dressed in his simple white cassock and red vestments, then placed in a simple wooden coffin. This will be carried in procession to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the public viewing will take place for the next three days.
A Vatican spokesperson said Monday that “the transfer of the body of the Holy Father to the Vatican Basilica for the homage of all the faithful could take place on Wednesday morning.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Pope Francis and President Donald Trump first met in 2017 at the Vatican in a cordial meeting amid papal criticisms of Trump’s border policies at the time.
Trump and the pope have tussled over immigration policies and the environment across the years, including Pope Francis taking swipes at political leaders who were working to build border walls in their country.
Trump was raised Presbyterian and is married to Catholic first lady Melania Trump.
“Builders of walls, be they made of razor wire or bricks, will end up becoming prisoners of the walls they build,”
Pope Francis said in 2019 in an apparent swipe at Trump’s border policies. He continued, “I realize that with this problem [of migration], a government has a hot potato in its hands, but it must be resolved differently, humanely, not with razor wire.”
The comment was followed by a 2016 remark that anyone who builds a wall to keep migrants out of a country was “not a Christian.” Trump responded at the time: “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful.”
Pope Francis again took issue with Trump’s immigration policies this year, arguing in a letter that the forceful removal of people simply for their immigration status deprives them of their inherent dignity and “will end badly.”
Trump administration official Tom Homan
, who serves as the country’s border czar, hit back at the latest Pope Francis critique with “harsh words.”
“I’ve got harsh words for the pope: I say this as a lifelong Catholic. He ought to focus on his work and leave enforcement to us. He’s got a wall around the Vatican, does he not?” Homan told Fox News in February.
Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed reporting.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres mourned the loss of Pope Francis Monday by saying that he “was a man of faith for all faiths — working with people of all beliefs and backgrounds to light a path forward.”
“Through the years, the United Nations was greatly inspired by his commitment to the goals and ideals of our organization — a message I conveyed in my meetings with him as Secretary-General,” Guterres said in a statement.
“In his historic 2015 visit to United Nations headquarters, he spoke of the organization’s ideal of a ‘united human family.’ Pope Francis also understood that protecting our common home is, at heart, a deeply moral mission and responsibility that belongs to every person,” Guterres added.
“Our divided and discordant world will be a much better place if we follow his example of unity and mutual understanding in our own actions,” he also said. “I offer my deepest condolences to Catholics and all those around the world inspired by the extraordinary life and example of Pope Francis.”
Former President Barack Obama described Pope Francis as “the rare leader who made us want to be better people.
“In his humility and his gestures at once simple and profound — embracing the sick, ministering to the homeless, washing the feet of young prisoners — he shook us out of our complacency and reminded us that we are all bound by moral obligations to God and one another,” Obama said Monday following Francis’ death.
“Today, Michelle and I mourn with everyone around the world — Catholic and non-Catholic alike — who drew strength and inspiration from the Pope’s example,” Obama added. “May we continue to heed his call to ‘never remain on the sidelines of this march of living hope.’”
Pope Francis, 88, the oldest pope in over a century, died Monday morning, though quiet discussions on who could succeed him have reportedly already begun.
While any male Catholic could in theory be chosen to sit in the papal seat, historically, succeeding popes have been selected from the Sacred College of Cardinals since 1378, according to Religion News Service.
Currently, there are 252 cardinals in the body who have been selected by the Holy Father to serve as his advisors and assistants.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, of Italy, is the Vatican’s secretary of state and the highest-ranking diplomat in the Holy See, which is the governing body of the Catholic Church. He is believed to be among the cardinals most likely to be elected to the top position.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, of the Philippines, is also believed to be a frontrunner among voting cardinals and serves as the pro-prefect for the section of first evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization, as well as president of the Interdicasterial Commission for Consecrated Religious.
After a pope dies, the Catholic Church chooses its next leader through an ancient electoral process called the “papal conclave.”
In practice, since at least 1276, the conclave gathers the church’s top bishops – called the College of Cardinals – from around the globe. Though there are more than 240 cardinals currently, only those under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in the conclave and the number of cardinal electors is limited to 120.
Nearly all prefects of Vatican offices lose their jobs when a pope dies, but a few stay on, including the foreign minister and the master of liturgical ceremonies, who play a key role in assembling the conclave.
The conclave takes place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel and cardinals are kept in strict isolation to keep them far from any outside influence from the rest of the world. This isolation is so important in the process that even the name conclave comes from the Latin “con clavis,” which means “with key,” indicating how the cardinal electors are locked up while they deliberate over who will be the new pope.
There is also an emphasis on choosing a pope quickly to lessen the amount of time the church spends without a leader. The cardinals cast their first vote the day the conclave begins. They then cast votes at least twice every day after – in the morning and evening – until a pope is selected.
Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias contributed to this report.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told “FOX & Friends” on Monday that today is a “solemn day for Catholics around the world” following the death of Pope Francis.
“I spoke to the vice president’s team this morning, and they expressed how excited and grateful they were for the opportunity to have met with the pope just yesterday. And of course, we know the pope has gone to be with the Lord this morning,” Leavitt said.
“And I spoke to the president about that as well and he has put out a statement to say, God bless the pope and all those who loved him. He touched millions of lives throughout his tenure as the head of the Catholic Church,” Leavitt added. “And so it’s a solemn day for Catholics around the world, and we are praying for all those who love the pope and believed in him.”
Dr. Marc Siegel, the senior medical analyst for Fox News, told “FOX & Friends” on Monday that Pope Francis may have suffered a “respiratory failure event” this morning prior to his death.
“What I heard from inside sources… I heard that there was a respiratory failure event this morning, Rome time, in the morning. Five to seven AM, where he was unable to catch his breath. We don’t know what caused that. It was likely due to another asthma-type event like he had in the hospital,” Siegel said.
“There are other things that occur. There are other things that may have occurred. When you have been sedentary for over a month like that and then you go home and you try to get up and you try to engage in therapy, a lot of things can go wrong at that point,” Siegel also said, referencing Francis’ recent hospital stay during which he had battled pneumonia for weeks.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan said Monday that “you couldn’t choreograph” the death of Pope Francis any better.
“We could never choreograph our own birth or death can we? That is always in God’s hands. But if you could choreograph it, you couldn’t choreograph it any better than what happened,” the Archbishop of New York told reporters at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
“The last time we saw him, Easter Sunday, the last words, a blessed Easter, as he gave us his blessing. The day that we believe Jesus rose from the dead and shares that victory with us, in which we trust by divine mercy, Pope Francis now shares an abundant – you couldn’t have choreographed it better,” Dolan added.
“And we thank him for that, in the way he lived and the way he died, he was a great teacher in which the pope is always called to be,” he also said.
President Donald Trump reacted to the death of Pope Francis Monday by writing on Truth Social “Rest in Peace Pope Francis!
“May God Bless him and all who loved him!” Trump added.
Trump met the pope in 2017 at the Vatican, during the president’s first term in office. Trump was joined by his wife Melania, his daughter Ivanka, her husband Jared Kushner and former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Trump shook the pope’s hands and said, “Thank you so much.”
Once the two shook hands, they were led into the pope’s private study and were seated across from one another. Trump told the pope it was “a very great honor.”The media was led out of the room, and the two talked for about 30 minutes.
Former President Joe Biden said Monday following the death of Pope Francis that “He was the People’s Pope — a light of faith, hope, and love.”
“He was unlike any who came before him. Pope Francis will be remembered as one of the most consequential leaders of our time and I am better for having known him,” Biden wrote in a statement on X.
“For decades, he served the most vulnerable across Argentina and his mission of serving the poor never ceased. As Pope, he was a loving pastor and challenging teacher who reached out to different faiths,” Biden continued.
“He commanded us to fight for peace and protect our planet from a climate crisis. He advocated for the voiceless and powerless. He made all feel welcome and seen by the Church. He promoted equity and an end to poverty and suffering across the globe,” Biden also said.
The funeral for Pope Francis will include many long-held traditions, but will also eschew some of the more intricate customs after the pope amended the Catholic Church’s papal funeral rights.
Francis died Monday at age 88, the Vatican announced.
While much of the tradition associated with papal funerals – which dates all the way back to ancient Rome – will continue, matters such as Francis’ coffin structure, his death verification process, burial location, and how he will be viewed and referred to during the ceremony, will be different from how it has been in the past.
Francis, who had battled pneumonia for weeks before being released from the hospital and appearing on Easter Sunday, had faced health complications for many years and had to have half of one of his lungs removed as a young person.
Francis’ move to change these papal funeral traditions, some of which date all the way back to ancient Rome, stemmed from a desire to emphasize that the pope is “that of a shepherd and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful man of this world,” according to Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the head of papal liturgical ceremonies who reportedly worked with Francis to help make the revisions. The rewrite was also preceded by the unusual circumstances of Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral, which deviated from traditional papal funerals on account of the fact he was a retired pope rather than a reigning one.
The new funeral rites were formally approved by Francis in 2023 and were later published in the church’s liturgical guidelines in early 2024. Around the same time he was working on these revisions, the pope revealed during an interview with a Spanish-language broadcaster that he would not be buried in the grottoes of the Vatican like his predecessors, but rather at Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in Rome. The new papal rights make it permissible for future popes to be buried outside the Vatican as well.
Following the pope’s death there is a period of mourning that lasts nine days, known as the “novendiale,” which is kicked off by the pope’s funeral. After this, roughly two to three weeks following the pope’s funeral, a “conclave” is commenced inside the Sistine Chapel by the College of Cardinals to elect his successor.
During the conclave, Cardinals eligible to vote are locked inside the famous chapel where they will take secret votes to determine who is next in line for the papacy. Up to four votes per day can take place, and the voting does not stop until a majority of Cardinals select who is next up.
The conclave that elected
Pope Francis in 2013 took roughly 24-hours and five ballots to come to a decision. His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, was elected after just four ballots. However, while the process recently has been quite rapid, it can run much longer.
The last conclave to run over a month was in the 18th century. The longest conclave ever, during the 13th century lasted almost three years before Pope Gregory X was selected.
Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed reporting.
Pope Francis impacted the Catholic Church in multiple ways during his 12 years serving in the role.
Francis, who was elected to the papacy on March 13, 2013, was the first Jesuit to become pope.
Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis canonized nearly 1,000 people. This total, however, includes the “Martyrs of Otranto,” a group of 813 people who were killed on Aug. 14, 1480, in Otranto, Italy.
In August 2018, Pope Francis issued a letter revising the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s teaching on the death penalty.
“Pope Francis continued the recent tradition of previous popes, including from St. John Paul II, by escalating Catholic opposition to modern-day use of the death penalty,” Charles Camosy, professor of bioethics at the Creighton University School of Medicine, had told Fox News Digital.
The word “Catholic” translates to “universal,” and Pope Francis’ papacy also exemplified this. Francis visited places no previous pontiff had ever visited and appointed cardinals from non-traditional locations.
The next Pope could, and some analysts say should, come from Africa. Christianity is booming here. More people are becoming Catholics on the continent than anywhere else in the world, and millions of Africans proudly stay true to their faith despite persecution and death.
“As in previous years, increases (in the number of Catholics) were registered above all in Africa,” the Vatican said in October 2024, stating that 7,271,000 Africans joined the faith last year.
Fox News Digital understands there are three leading African papabile – “pope-able” candidates – Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, 65, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, 76, from Ghana, and Guinea’s Cardinal Robert Sarah, who is viewed as an outsider due his being 80-years-old.
“Is it time? Certainly, it is an appropriate time for the leader of the Catholic Church to come from Africa for reasons that would capture the world’s imagination,” Greg Tobin, author of the novels “Conclave” and “Council,” and the biography of “Pope John XXIII, the Good Pope,” told Fox News Digital.
He added, “The Church has been growing at an amazingly rapid rate over the past few decades in the face of government opposition in many African nations, overt persecution of Christians and Catholics in many of the same nations, and violent opposition. Further, the leaders who have been appointed bishops and raised up as cardinals are generally highly educated, often in the West.”
Bells tolled Monday in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican to mark Pope Francis’ death.
Crowds can be seen gathering at the Vatican following the announcement earlier this morning that Francis passed away at the age of 88.
King Charles III said Monday that “My wife and I were most deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Francis” and “Our heavy hearts have been somewhat eased, however, to know that His Holiness was able to share an Easter Greeting with the Church and the world he served with such devotion throughout his life and ministry.”
“His Holiness will be remembered for his compassion, his concern for the unity of the Church and for his tireless commitment to the common causes of all people of faith, and to those of goodwill who work for the benefit of others,” Charles added in a statement.
“His belief that care for Creation is an existential expression of faith in God resounded with so many across the world,” he continued. “Through his work and care for both people and planet, he profoundly touched the lives of so many.”
“The Queen and I remember with particular affection our meetings with His Holiness over the years and we were greatly moved to have been able to visit him earlier in the month,” Charles
also said. “We send our most heartfelt condolences and profound sympathy to the Church he served with such resolve and to the countless people around the world who, inspired by his life, will be mourning the devastating loss of this faithful follower of Jesus Christ.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after the death of Pope Francis on Monday that the pontiff’s “memory and example of his compassion will long endure.”
“Australian Catholics and faithful around the world give thanks for the life of their Holy Father, Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome,” Albanese said in a statement. “Today, the prayers of more than a billion people – from all nations and every walk of life – go with Pope Francis to his rest.”
“Pope Francis’ compassion embraced all humanity,” he continued. “He urged us to remember all we hold in common and asked the world to hear the ‘cry of the earth’, our common home. He invited world leaders to join him and: ’emerge from the dark night of wars and environmental devastation in order to turn our common future into the dawn of a new and radiant day.'”
Albanese said Francis, the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, was “close to the people of Australia,” adding that for Australian Catholics, he “was a devoted champion and loving father.”
“Pope Francis lived out his faith and vocation in word and deed. In his modest way of life, and at his weekly audiences, he demonstrated his commitment to peace, equality and inclusion,” Albanese said. “Pope Francis’ love for humanity was powerful and profound. The memory and example of his compassion will long endure.”
The prime minister said as people around the world mourn Francis’ death, “we celebrate the gift of his life and presence among us and we hold on to the resonant truth of Pope Francis’ final Easter homily.”
“The light quietly shines forth, even though we are in darkness; the promise of new life and a world finally set free awaits us; and a new beginning, however impossible it might seem, can take us by surprise, for Christ has triumphed over death,” Francis had said.
“May God welcome Pope Francis to eternal life,” Albanese concluded.
Pope Francis, then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Begoglio, was elected in March 2013 to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, becoming the first non-European pope in over 1,000 years.
He moved to reform the Catholic Church in multiple ways, including overhauling the Vatican Bank and tackling the coverup of sexual abuse. He also presented a softened approach to issues like divorced and remarried Catholics, and homosexuality.
As Pope Francis, he oversaw multiple synods on hot button issues, declared a year of mercy and produced a number of Vatican documents. He also attempted to harden the Church’s opposition to the death penalty, calling it “inadmissible.”
In 2015, he traveled to the United States, visiting Washington D.C., New York and Philadelphia.
He has generally been seen as more progressive than his predecessors, although he has not shifted Church teaching on issues like abortion and women priests as some liberals would have hoped. But he has also clashed with conservatives on issues including the Tridentine Mass, the acceptance of divorced and remarried Catholics for Holy Communion and his criticism of capitalism.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.
Vice President JD Vance, who had just met with Pope Francis on Sunday, issued a post on X following the pontiff’s passing.
“I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” Vance noted.
“I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul.”
Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said after the death of Pope Francis on Monday that “a great man and a great pastor have left us.”
“Pope Francis has returned to the house of the Father,” Meloni said on X. “This news saddens us deeply, because a great man and a great pastor have left us.”
“I had the privilege of enjoying his friendship, his advice and his teachings, which never failed even in moments of trial and suffering,” she continued. “In the meditations of the Via Crucis, he reminded us of the power of the gift, which makes everything flourish again and is capable of reconciling what in the eyes of man is irreconcilable. And he asked the world, once again, for the courage to change direction, to follow a path that ‘does not destroy, but cultivates, repairs, protects.'”
Meloni added: “We will walk in this direction, to seek the path of peace, pursue the common good and build a more just and equitable society. His teaching and his legacy will not be lost. We greet the Holy Father with hearts full of sadness, but we know that he is now in the peace of the Lord.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog issued a post on X regarding the death of Pope Francis.
“I send my deepest condolences to the Christian world and especially the Christian communities in Israel – the Holy Land – on the loss of their great spiritual father, His Holiness Pope Francis. A man of deep faith and boundless compassion, he dedicated his life to uplifting the poor and calling for peace in a troubled world. He rightly saw great importance in fostering strong ties with the Jewish world and in advancing interfaith dialogue as a path toward greater understanding and mutual respect,” Herzog declared in the tweet.
“I truly hope that his prayers for peace in the Middle East and for the safe return of the hostages will soon be answered. May his memory continue to inspire acts of kindness, unity, and hope.”
Pope Francis died Monday morning at the age of 88, according to Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo.
“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church,” Farrell announced.
“He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized,” the announcement continued.
Farrell added: “With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.”