Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor, has died, the Vatican announced. He was 88.
The pope had suffered various ailments in his 12-year papacy and had survived a serious bout of double pneumonia recently.
Pope Francis will be the first pope in more than 100 years to be laid to rest outside the Vatican. He had wished to be buried not in St Peter's Basilica but in Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, Francis was the first Jesuit to lead the world's almost 1.4 billion Catholics and the first from the Americas. He was elected on March 13, 2013, at age 76, surprising many Church watchers who had seen the Argentine cleric as an outsider.
