The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims and a philanthropist, dies at 88

PARIS (AP) — The Aga Khan, who became the spiritual leader of the world’s millions of Ismaili Muslims at age 20 as a Harvard undergraduate and poured a material empire built on billions of dollars in tithes into building homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries, died Tuesday. He was 88.

His Aga Khan Development Network and the Ismaili religious community announced that His Highness Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, the Aga Khan IV and 49th hereditary imam of the Shiite Ismaili Muslims, died in Portugal surrounded by his family.

On Wednesday, his son Rahim was named the Aga Khan V, the 50th hereditary imam of the Shiite Ismaili Muslims, in accordance with his father’s will.

The Ismaili community’s website said the late Aga Khan's burial will be held in the coming days, followed by an homage ceremony.

Considered by his followers to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and treated as a head of state, he was a student when his grandfather named him as successor to lead the diaspora of Ismaili Muslims, passing over his playboy father and saying his followers should be led by a young man “who has been brought up in the midst of the new age.”

Over decades, the Aga Khan evolved into a business magnate and a philanthropist, moving between the spiritual and the worldly with ease.

Ceremonies were held in Ismaili communities in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world on Tuesday and Wednesday.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called him “a symbol of peace, tolerance and compassion in our troubled world." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called him a very good friend and ”an extraordinarily compassionate global leader."

Condolences poured in online from charity groups he supported, as well as the equestrian world, where he was a well-known figure.

The Aga Khan was given the title of “His Highness” by Queen Elizabeth in July 1957, two weeks after his grandfather the Aga Khan III unexpectedly made him heir to the family’s 1,300-year dynasty as leader of the Ismaili Muslim sect.

He became the Aga Khan IV on July 11, 1957, in Geneva, Switzerland and later that year had an installation ceremony in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on the spot where his grandfather once had his weight equaled in diamonds in gifts from his followers.

He had left Harvard to be at his ailing grandfather’s side, and returned to school 18 months later with an entourage and a deep sense of responsibility.

“I was an undergraduate who knew what his work for the rest of his life was going to be,” he said in a 2012 interview with Vanity Fair magazine. “I don’t think anyone in my situation would have been prepared.”

A defender of Islamic culture and values, he was widely regarded as a builder of bridges between Muslim societies and the West despite — or perhaps because of — his reticence to become involved in politics.

The Aga Khan Development Network, his main philanthropic organization, deals mainly with issues of health care, housing, education and rural economic development. It says it works in over 30 countries and has an annual budget of about $1 billion for nonprofit development activities.

A network of hospitals bearing his name are scattered in places where health care had lacked for the poorest, including Bangladesh, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, where he spent tens of millions of dollars for development of local economies.

The extent of the Aga Khan’s financial empire is hard to measure. Some reports estimated his personal wealth to be in the billions.

Ismailis lived for many generations in Iran, Syria and South Asia before also settling in east Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, as well as Europe, North America and Australia more recently. They consider it a duty to tithe up to 12.5% of their income to the Aga Khan as steward.

“We have no notion of the accumulation of wealth being evil,” he told Vanity Fair in 2012. “The Islamic ethic is that if God has given you the capacity or good fortune to be a privileged individual in society, you have a moral responsibility to society.”

The Ismaili community’s website said he was born on Dec. 13, 1936, in Creux-de-Genthod, near Geneva, the son of Joan Yarde-Buller and Aly Khan, and spent part of his childhood in Nairobi, Kenya — where a hospital now bears his name.

He became well-known as a horse breeder and owner, and he represented Iran in the 1964 Winter Olympics as a skier. His eye for building and design led him to establish an architecture prize, and programs for Islamic Architecture at MIT and Harvard. He restored ancient Islamic structures throughout the world.

The Aga Khan lived at length in France and had been based in Portugal for the past several years. His development network and foundation are based in Switzerland.

He is survived by three sons and a daughter and several grandchildren.

FILE - The Aga Khan, left, and author J.K. Rowling, right, clap during Harvard University commencement exercises, Thursday, June 5, 2008, in Cambridge, Mass. Both received honorary degrees during the exercises. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole, File)

FILE - The Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, is greeted by the Aga Khan, right, during a visit to the Ismaili Centre to join a reception to help celebrate their 25th anniversary, in London, Nov. 18, 2010. (Anthony Devlin/PA via AP, File)

FILE - Indian President Pranab Mukherjee confers the Padma Vibhushan to the Aga Khan, spiritual head of Ismaili Muslims, left, during a civil investiture ceremony at the presidential palace in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. The Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award in India. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

FILE - The Aga Khan, spiritual leader to millions of Muslim, addresses an audience, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, at the Memorial Church on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

FILE - The owner of Zarkava his highness Aga Khan, center, his daughter Zahra Aga Khan, left, and French jockey Christophe Soumillon hold their trophies after winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race at Longchamp race track in Paris, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - Queen Elizabeth II and The Aga Khan at a dinner at Buckingham Palace, in London, July 7, 2008, to mark the Aga Khan's Golden Jubilee. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP, File)

FILE - Lt. Governor Casey Cagle welcomes His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the world's Shia Ismaili Muslim Community, as he arrives at Fulton County Airport to celebrate with his Georgia followers his 60th anniversary as their leader Tuesday, March 13, 2018, in Atlanta. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

FILE - The Aga Khan, spiritual head of Ismaili Muslims, leaves after the inauguration of the restored 16th century Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

FILE - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, right, walks with the Aga Khan, spiritual head of Ismaili Muslims, as he arrives to inaugurate the restored 16th Century Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

FILE - The Aga Khan addresses an audience about the challenges to a pluralistic society Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, at the Memorial Church on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

FILE - The Aga Khan, spiritual head of Ismaili Muslims, listens to a speech during the inauguration of the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad, India, Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A., File)

FILE - The Aga Khan, spiritual head of Ismaili Muslims, listens to a speech during the inauguration of the restored 16th century Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi, India, Sept. 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV carried a wooden cross for all of the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope carried the cross to every station.

“I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week outside of the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. “I carry all of this suffering in my prayer.”

Inside the Colosseum, Leo lifted the cross and began the rite flanked by two torchbearers, who accompanied him throughout the hour-long procession from inside the Colosseum, through the crowd outside and up steep stairs to the Palatine Hill where he gave the final blessing.

At the first station, marking the moment Jesus was condemned to death, the meditation prepared especially for Leo's first Good Friday underlined that those with authority will have to answer to God for how they exercise their power.

"The power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instill violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge, or for reconciliation,'' read the meditation written by Rev. Francesco Patton, who was custodian of the Holy Land 2016-25, charged, among other things, with looking after sacred sites.

Some 30,000 faithful gathered outside the pagan monument, following the stations as they were recited over loud speakers.

They included Sister Pelenatita Kieoma Finau from Samoa and a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.

"We have been part of our parish stations of the cross, but this is so exciting. It is very meaningful to have the experience of being with the people of Rome on this special occasion,'' she said.

John Paul II carried the cross for the entire procession from his first Good Friday as pontiff in 1979 until his hip surgery in 1995, when he carried it just part of the way, according to AP reports at the time.

For the first two years of his papacy, Benedict XVI carried the cross for the first station inside the Colosseum, then followed other bearers in the procession that ends on a platform on the Palatine Hill.

Pope Francis never carried the cross, but participated in the procession until his health worsened. He died after a long illness last year on Easter Monday, which fell on April 21.

Pope John Paul II was just 58 when he became pope, and was known as a hiker and outdoorsman. His two successors were in their late 70s when they began their papacies, and Francis was missing part of a lung due to a pulmonary infection as a young man.

The Way of the Cross commemorates the final hours of Jesus’ life, from his death sentence to taking up the cross to his crucifixion, death and burial. The procession ends outside the Colosseum atop the Palatine Hill.

“The Way of the Cross is not intended for those who lead a pristinely pious or abstractly recollected life,” Patton wrote in his introduction. “Instead, it is the exercise of one who knows that faith, hope and charity must be incarnated in the real world.”

At 70, Leo is physically fit and an avid tennis player and swimmer. Before becoming pope, Leo would work out regularly at a gym near the Vatican, with a plan befitting a man in his early 50s, according to his former trainer.

On Holy Saturday, the pontiff will preside over a late night Easter vigil, during which he will baptize new Catholics, and lead Roman Catholics into Christianity’s most joyous celebration marking Christ’s resurrection.

On Easter Sunday, the pope will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square before delivering his Easter message and offer the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the city of Rome and the world.

——

Barry reported from Milan.

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful attend the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession led by Pope Leo XIV at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV attends the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Catholic Good Friday, Friday, April 3, 2026 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV attends the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Catholic Good Friday, Friday, April 3, 2026 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)