Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, has died, on Easter Monday.
He died today at the age of 88, at his residence at Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City, according to an announcement made by Cardinal Kevin Farrel via a statement released by the Vatican today.
“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” the statement says.
Pope Francis passed away at 7:35 am (Vatican time) today, according to Cardinal Kevin Farrel.
“He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalised,” the cardinal underlines in the statement.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 17 December 1936, the pontiff became the head of Catholic Church in 2013, succeeding pope Benedict XVI upon the latter’s resignation due to advanced age.
Meanwhile, the process for choosing a new pope takes place between 15 to 20 days after the death of a pope, according to various media reports. – GNM
Images: The Holy See, Kai Pilger, Ashwin Vaswani, Coronel G
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