Via Astrologica

Last month, Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, passed away. For many of the faithful, this was a loss of profound spiritual, social, and symbolic significance. Setting aside an evaluation of his pontificate, the purpose of this post is to analyse his natal horoscope, with particular attention to the so-called Anareta, which in traditional astrology is believed to play a significant role in life or rather death.

Anareta in classical astrology refers to a planet or chart point associated with the end of life. It is most often considered in the context of death but can also indicate critical, transformative or destructive moments. In horoscope analysis, the anareta is considered within the progressions, directions, transits, solar returns and its interpretation requires a holistic understanding of the natal chart.

So let’s have a look at the natal chart of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis, 17.12.1936 Buenos Aires, Argentina¹

Hyleg & Alcocoden

The Moon is the Pope’s Hyleg. It is positioned in the appropriate house and quarter. Venus, in conjunction with the Moon, acts as the Alcoccoden. Her placement in an angular house means that she is a giver of greater years, 82 years. No planet or node aspects Venus, so there are no more years to add or to subtract. The Pope died at the age of 88 years.

Almuten Of Death

Pope Francis’ Almuten Of Death², calculated according to Abu Ali al-Khayyat, is Venus. Venus is also the Alcoccoden. At the age of 82 (in 2018), the protection of Venus came to an end. Around that time, Venus moved from Aries into Taurus in secondary progressions. A few years later, the Pope begun experiencing more serious health problems³.

Secondary Progressions

In the secondary progressions, certain planetary elements draw attention. It’s Uranus on the Descendant, Pluto on the Medium Coeli and Jupiter on the Imum Coeli. Additionally, there is a conjunction of Saturn and the Sun in trine to Pluto.

Transits

The Sun – Saturn progressive conjunction was at the position of the Venus (Almuten of Death) and Saturn in transits.

Transits 21.04.2025 7:35 UTC+2⁴, Vatican

From an astrological perspective, it was a remarkable moment in the history of the Apostolic See. Uranus was exactly on the Ascendant and in conjunction with the fixed star Algol – Medusa’s Head⁵. The Pope’s death was caused by the cerebral stroke⁶. Additionally, Pluto was in conjunction with the Moon on the Medium Coeli, and it was together with the fixed star Altair.

Solar Return

In the solar return char, the Moon is placed on the eighth house cusp. Mars is also in that house. The eighth is a house of death. On the other hand, Saturn is in the fourth house, associated with the end of life. Uranus in the sixth house cusp signifies the sudden health issues. Sun on the Ascendant highlight this solar return chart.

Firdaria and Profections

The moment of Pope’s passing was a firdaria of Saturn and Mars as a minor firdaria⁷. Two malefic planets signifying the phase of Pope’s life is a sign of a hard time coming.

Conclusions

It appears that Venus was not an anaretic factor, or at least it didn’t act effectively as such. What more accurately fits the role of the Anareta is Saturn, whose influence is evident in all the analysed horoscopes. Uranus and Pluto seemed to act more as significators of the circumstances of Holy Father’s passing, as well as symbols of the end of a particular era in history.

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Links:

1. Birth data from Astro-Databank Rodden Rating AA ↩︎
2. “Judgments of Nativities” Abu Ali Al-Khayyat ↩︎
3. en.wikipedia.org ↩︎
4. www.vaticannews.va ↩︎
5. en.wikipedia.org ↩︎
6. www.vaticannews.va ↩︎
7. “Ysagoga Minor” Albumasar ↩︎

Charts generated with Urania PRO.