The Vatican says Pope Francis died of a stroke that put him into a coma and led to heart failure. The death was confirmed Monday by Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, the head of the Vatican’s health department.
Francis, who suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was hospitalized for 38 days earlier this year following a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia, according to The Associated Press.
The 88-year-old pope, revered by millions of Catholics around the world, died at 7.35am in his apartment at Casa Santa Marta on Monday. His cause of death was confirmed through an ECG test, The Guardian, quoting the Vatican, said.
Francis, who twice almost died when hospitalised with severe pneumonia in February, also suffered from multiple bronchiectasis, arterial hypertension and type 2 diabetes, the report added.
The pope confirmed in his will that he wished to be buried at Santa Maria Maggiore church in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood, breaking with longstanding Vatican tradition. He would pray at the basilica before and after trips overseas, and last visited on 12 April.
The text of his will specified that Francis wanted to be buried “in the ground, without particular decoration” but with the inscription of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.
Popes are usually buried with much fanfare in the grottoes beneath St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, but Francis – loved by many Catholics for his humility – simplified rites for papal funerals last year.
The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis's funeral will be held on Saturday. World leaders from US President Donald Trump to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky said they would attend to honour the Catholic leader.
