By Augustine Akhilomen
Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.4bn Catholics, has died at the age of 88, the Vatican announced on Monday, just weeks after returning home from hospital after battling double pneumonia.
In his last public appearance, he had greeted the faithful on Sunday to wish them a happy Easter.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced that the pope had passed away at 7.35am on Monday.
“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with deep sorrow that I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” he said. “Francis, has returned to the house of the Father.”
The pontiff had been hospitalised in February and spent weeks undergoing treatment for the latest in a series of respiratory problems for the Argentine Jesuit.
During his 12-year-long reign, Francis sought to reform and revitalise a 2,000-year-old organisation shaken by sex abuse scandals and serious financial mismanagement as the church and its leaders struggled to adapt to the modern world.