UPDATE: |Pope Francis’ cause of death announced as first Latin American pontiff dies aged 88 News

His death was announced this morning

Pope Francis died after suffering a stroke, the Vatican has said.

The 88-year-old suffered a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure, it has been announced. The cause of his death was announced this evening as a Rosary prayer began in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City, in its first public commemoration following Pope Francis’s death.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St Peter’s Basilica, led the prayer as the sun set. Pope Francis’s death was announced this morning.

The first ever Latin American pontiff, Pope Francis charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor. He is also said to have alienated many conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change.

Francis had suffered from chronic lung disease, and he was admitted to a hospital on February 14 for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He was treated for 38 days, the longest hospitalisation of his 12-year papacy.

He last appeared in public on Sunday with an Easter blessing and a tour through a cheering crowd in St Peter’s Square.

No date for the funeral has been announced, and the next pope is still to be decided.