Vatican Reports Pope Francis Has Passed away.

Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17th 1936 and who was Bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church, has sadly passed away this morning.

Pope Francis first became Pope after his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, resigned in 2013.

His death was announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell in a statement released by the Vatican. He said: “Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis”.
He passed away at 7:35am this morning.

He was the first pope from the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order), the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born and raised outside Europe, since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.