Spain will observe three days of mourning to honour Pope Francis after the Argentine pontiff’s death on Monday aged 88, Justice Minister Félix Bolaños said in a televised address.
“We regret the death of a good man and a great pope. Therefore, the government of Spain will declare three days of official mourning,” Bolaños said, praising Francis’s “reformist” 12-year papacy that “will leave a legacy for history”.
Francis “dedicated his life to the weak, to those who have nothing… a pope characterised by his struggle against inequality, injustices, his fight against climate change and his concern for all those on the peripheries”, added Bolanos.
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“For that reason, the government of Spain has always felt close to his work and his values, especially his defence of peace,” the Socialist minister continued.
In Spain, historically a deeply Catholic country, “we loved him and what his papacy meant”, said Bolanos.
“With his papacy the Church has started to travel a path which must continue.”
