Vatican: Pope Francis died of stroke, heart failure

The Vatican has disclosed that Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure.

The Vatican disclosed this in a statement on Monday evening.

The first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church died earlier in the day at the age of 88, ending an often turbulent reign as he sought to overhaul the institution.

When Pope Francis took over in 2013, the Catholic Church was embroiled in a global scandal over child sex abuse by priests and the institution’s attempts to cover it up.

The pontiff sanctioned top clergy and made reporting abuse mandatory, but victims said more can and must be done.

Argentine football great Lionel Messi thanked Francis on Monday for “making the world a better place” as the late pontiff’s favourite club, San Lorenzo, hailed his decades-long “passion” for the team.

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“RIP Pope Francis,” Messi wrote on Instagram following the death of his fellow countryman – the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere.

“Thank you for making the world a better place. We will miss you,” the footballer added in a post with a photo of him with the pope.

Francis confirmed in his final testament that he wished to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Major and not at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, unlike many previous pontiffs.

The Vatican released his final testament on Monday evening.

The text specified that Francis wanted to be buried “in the ground, without particular decoration” but with the inscription of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.

The Star