POPE Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said in a video statement on Easter Monday.
It ends an often turbulent reign marked by division and tension as he sought to overhaul the hidebound institution.
He was 88, and had recently survived a serious bout of double pneumonia.
“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.
“At 7:35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”
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