Pope Francis has died, the Vatican announced early Monday morning in Rome. He was 88.
The first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic faithful led the Catholic Church for 12 years, having been elevated to the role in March 2013 following the historic resignation of his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI.
File/Newly elected Pope Francis I appears on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on March 13, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the 266th Pontiff. (Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis via Getty Images)
Francis recently left Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he was admitted on February 14 after having difficulty breathing. A serious bout of double pneumonia was diagnosed as the cause.
He died at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.
“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican’s TV channel by way of confirmation.
Such has been the poor health experienced by the octogenarian of late, for the first time since becoming pope in 2013, he has missed the majority of recent Holy Week events.
Still, Pope Francis had worked to the very last when able and made a surprise appearance for Easter Sunday blessings at the Vatican’s St Peter’s Square, as Breitbart News reported.
The late Pope made his mark in a number of ways.
Francis was the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pontiff since Pope Gregory III, more than 1,000 years earlier.
File/Pope Francis leads a meeting of prayer with families at St. Peter’s Square on October 26, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
His death triggers the start of the solemn but considered process to elect a replacement.
It begins with the official period of mourning, then the papal funeral in coming days and ends with a plume of white smoke emanating from the Sistine Chapel to announce his successor has been chosen.
Pope Francis will be buried in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood.
More to come…
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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