Argentines, fresh from holding Easter family gatherings around the parrilla barbecue, woke on Monday to the sad news that Pope Francis, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, had died in the Vatican at the age of 88 after battling illness.

Francis was a deeply religious child in Buenos Aires. The first pontiff from Latin America tried to create a more welcoming church.

Pope Francis navigated a complex relationship with politics in Argentina, a juggling act observers say explains why he never once returned to the country that informed his love for the downtrodden, for tango and for soccer.