Pope Francis, spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, died on Monday aged 88, the Vatican announced.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, announced the death in a statement: “At 7:35 this morning (0535 GMT), the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”
Francis had recently suffered from pneumonia in both lungs and spent more than a month in the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
It was his fourth longer stay in the hospital in the past four years.
He was initially there in 2021 for intestinal surgery, in 2023 for severe pneumonia and later that year for another open abdominal procedure.
Francis had been participating in public events from a wheelchair due to a severe knee condition and had to cancel many regular prayers, audiences and services in recent months.
In what turned out to be his last public appearance, Francis appeared briefly on the balcony in front of thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square on Sunday to deliver an Easter blessing.
In spite of his ill health, the pope completed a 12-day trip to Asia and the Pacific in the first half of September and a visit to Luxembourg and Belgium later the same month.
