According to an official statement released by the Vatican, Pope Francis died early Monday morning at the age of 88 following a serious battle with stroke.
The death certificate confirms that the Pope passed away at 7:35 a.m. (0535 GMT) inside his residence at Santa Marta in Vatican City. The cause of death has been listed as a “cerebral stroke, coma, irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.”
The late pontiff had only recently been discharged from a five-week hospital stay, where he battled a severe case of double pneumonia. At that time, medical experts reportedly feared for his life. His health condition had been critical, and he was said to have experienced an episode of acute respiratory failure.
Additional details from the certificate reveal that Pope Francis had been dealing with multiple underlying health problems, including arterial hypertension, multiple bronchiectasis, and Type 2 diabetes—a condition that had not been made public during his papacy.
The certificate was officially signed by Professor Andrea Arcangeli, the Director of Health of the Vatican City State, confirming the medical findings and time of death.
