“At 7:35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father,” the Vatican said in a video statement.
Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died at his residence in the Vatican, officials confirmed on Monday. In a video statement, the Vatican said that the first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church passed away at the age of 88 after prolonged illness. It ended a rather turbulent reign marked by division and tension as he sought to overhaul the Roman Catholic Church. In his 12 years of papacy, Pope Francis suffered several ailments.