Pope Francis dies, leading to search for new leader of Catholic Church

Pope Francis has died, the Vatican announced in a video statement.The first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church died at the age of 88 at 7:35am (05:35 GMT) on Monday, said Cardinal Kevin Farrell in a statement published by the Vatican on its Telegram channel.His death will lead to a process to find a new spiritual leader of the world’s1.4 billion or so Catholics.Francis had suffered various ailments during his 12-year papacy, with severe complications in recent weeks after a bout of double pneumonia for which he spent 38 days at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. The Vatican confirmed late Monday the cause of death was a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure.His death comes one day after a brief final appearance before thousands of Catholic pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Vatican’s open-air Easter Sunday Mass, wishing the crowds “Happy Easter” before an aide read out his last benediction.Concern over his health had risen in recent days, a...