The ‘Humble’ Pope was known for shunning the opulence
Though his annual stipend hovered around the £300,000 mark, Pope Francis left behind only a modest trace of personal fortune when he passed.
The 88-year-old pontiff departed this world on Monday, 21 April, prompting a tide of grieving pilgrims to flood Rome — lining up in silence to pay homage to his earthly remains and filling the city with reverent sorrow through the weekend’s funeral rites.
Known to the world before his papal ascension as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the spiritual steward of the Catholic Church succumbed to a cerebral stroke, which plunged him into a coma and ultimately led to irreversible cardiac failure. The Vatican solemnly declared that he had “returned to the house of the Father.”
Pope Francis was revered not merely for his position, but for his disarming simplicity — a man who sidestepped the pageantry and grandeur often expected of his office. His was a papacy marked by humility, a conscious rejection of ornamental customs and an embrace of ascetic grace.
True to form, he requested a farewell that echoed his life’s ethos — stripped of indulgence, free of regalia. A quiet closing chapter to a papacy defined by restraint and spiritual sincerity.
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The Pope’s net worth is disputed. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Tradition might suggest that the helm of the Catholic Church comes draped in velvet and steeped in luxury — yet Pope Francis charted a radically different course.
Rather than residing in the palatial Apostolic Palace, he opted instead for the simpler quarters of Casa Santa Marta — a humble guesthouse more often reserved for visiting clergy. It was within those modest walls that his body lay in repose before its solemn procession to Saint Peter’s Basilica, where he was placed in state from Wednesday.
While some conjecture that the Pope’s position might have given him access to assets totaling up to £16 million — including papal garments, official residences, and vehicles — Francis treated none of it as personal wealth. He rejected the generous annual salary of approximately £300,000, reportedly choosing instead to funnel those funds toward charitable trusts and benevolent causes.
His asceticism was no performance — it flowed from the heart of his identity. As a Jesuit, his spiritual DNA was steeped in vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Jesuits are bound not only to “find God in all things,” but also to confront injustice, walk alongside the poor, and strip away excess in favor of service.
In life and in death, Pope Francis remained tethered to these ideals — not just a shepherd of faith, but a living embodiment of it.
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The Pope was well-known for his work for those in need. (TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)
As astonishing as it may seem for a figure of such global prominence, some reports suggest that Pope Francis may have departed this world with scarcely £100 to his name.
Though his exact financial legacy remains a matter of speculation, what is certain is the austerity that defined his life. A man of deliberate simplicity, he routinely redirected resources toward those society often forgets — the impoverished, the outcast, the unseen.
One of the most vivid examples came in 2019, when he handed over the Palazzo Migliori — a sprawling, opulent building in the heart of Rome — to be transformed into a refuge for the homeless. The move rattled traditionalists and drew scorn from critics appalled at the repurposing of such grand architecture. But for Francis, it was a natural extension of his values: sacred spaces should shelter the vulnerable, not glorify power.
Even his papal title was born of this philosophy. He chose the name “Francis” in tribute to Saint Francis of Assisi — the beggar-saint known as Il Poverello, the “Poor Man of Assisi.” The choice was not symbolic flair but a calling. He once recounted that immediately after the conclave that confirmed his election in 2013, a fellow cardinal leaned over and whispered, “Don’t forget the poor.” Those four words became the compass for his papacy.
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