Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said in a video message.
"Dear brothers and sisters, it is with deep sorrow that I announce the death of our Holy Father Francis," Cardinal Kevin Farrell said on Vatican TV.
He was 88 years old and had recently been hospitalized with bilateral pneumonia.
After receiving treatment, the pontiff had been discharged from the hospital a month earlier, on March 23. The day before his death, Francis greeted Catholics on Easter from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on Sunday.
Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) was elected Pope in March 2013, becoming the first pope from the New World and the first pope from outside Europe in more than 1,200 years.
