Pope Francis asked to say goodbye to his dog seconds before … See more

Afterward, Francis — who also made time earlier on Sunday to meet with Vice President J.D. Vance, despite their differences — “rested on Sunday afternoon and had a quiet dinner,” the Vatican said.

His health deteriorated quickly on Monday morning, according to the church, with “the first signs of the sudden illness” appearing about 5:30 a.m. local time.

“Around an hour later, after making a gesture of farewell with his hand to Mr. Strappetti, lying in bed in his second-floor apartment at the Casa Santa Marta, the Pope fell into a coma,” the Vatican said.

“According to those who were with him in his final moments, he did not suffer. It all happened quickly,” the church’s statement continued, describing Francis’ death as “discreet … almost sudden, without long suffering or public alarm.”

His official cause of death, at 7:35 a.m. local time on Monday, was determined to be from a cerebral stroke, coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse, the Vatican previously said.

Francis had long grappled with health issues, including a 38-day stay in the hospital earlier this year for respiratory complications — with Strappetti, his nurse, almost always by his side. He also had arterial hypertension and Type 2 diabetes, the church said.

Still, he continued to work up until almost his last moments.

Francis had a “phenomenal work ethic,” his biographer Austen Ivereigh previously told PEOPLE. “That’s been true of him for decades. People who work with him say he hasn’t taken a holiday since the 1970s.”

Or, as Argentinean priest Esteban Alfon put it, Francis “always had the most needy in his heart.”