Pope Francis' mysterious will and huge net worth despite turning down six-figure salary

Pope Francis I has died today at the age of 88, just hours after writing his poignant Easter homily calling for the end of armed conflict in Gaza and Ukraine.

The pontiff - the first Latin American leader of the church - had served in office since being elected in 2013 on the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI.

During his life, Francis, who was born in Argentina, vowed to life simply, rejected the grandeur he was entitled to as pope and even declined to draw a salary from the church.

Despite that, his net worth was still estimated to be several million thanks to the papal assets associated with his role. So what happens to Pope Francis' will now he has died?

Pope Francis' will

As Pope, Francis was entitled to draw on the £290,000 a year salary granted to the papal office by the church. However, as a Jesuit - an order of Roman Catholic priests who swear vows of poverty, chastity, obedience to Christ and obedience to the Pope - Francis had declined to be paid for his role since being elected in 2013.

Instead he could have the whopping £24,000-a-month money paid into trust, into a foundation, donated back to the church or passed on to a family member.

Even before becoming Pope, Francis - born Jorge Mario Bergoglio - would take time to celebrate Mass with sex workers and homeless people in his home town, Buenos Aires, and when he was made a cardinal he still opted to cook his own meals.

Francis also surprised many when he strolled back to his hotel hours after being elected pope to pay his bill and collect his luggage, and took the minibus back to his lodgings with the other cardinals rather than use the offical papal Jaguar and motorcade. "I came on the bus, so I’ll go home on the bus," he said at the time.

Despite his personal values of austerity, as pope Francis was had a jaw-dropping net worth of £12million due to the assets associated with his papal office. These include five cars, an apartment and clothing.

But the pontiff can choose where to live within the Vatican. Most live in the grand Apostolic Palace, also known as the Papal Palace, which is situated to the north of St. Peter's Basilica. Francis, however, wanted to live in more modest accommodation, in keeping with his principles, so opted to move into a smaller two-room suite within the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse.

Rather than living inside the grand top-floor palatial penthouse apartment - which boasts more than 12 rooms, quarters for staff, a terrace and extensive views across Rome - he chose to stay in the guesthouse used to house visiting cardinals and opted to take his meals in the communal dining room.

He continued to modernise the office during his 12-year stint, choosing a more humble Ring of the Fisherman - the seal worn by each pope - and opting for a gold-plated silver ring instead of a more expensive gold one.

The ring will have already been symbolically destroyed to mark the end of Francis' authority, but as the eldest of five children he will still have living relatives.

His last will won't be revealed until the College of Cardinals hold their first meeting, so we don't yet know whether Francis still has personal possessions that he wanted to pass on.

Popes usually leave everything to the Holy See, the central government of the Roman Catholic Church, but when Benedict XVI died in 2022, his situation was more complex because he had retired on the grounds of ill health nine years previously.

During those years he had received royalties from the books he'd written and earned salaries from universities where he'd worked as a theology professor. He'd also taken an income from his time as archbishop of Munich.

After his death, the 95-year-old Pope emeritus' cousins were contacted about receiving whatever money was left in his estate. However, all of them turned it down fearing they would also be held legally responsible for paying compensation to the victims of abuse meted out by Catholic priests whose sexual assaults were brushed under the carpet by Benedict before he'd become pope.

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