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Pope Francis died on Monday aged 88, prompting mourning across the Christian world for the energetic reformer who inspired devotion from Catholics but riled traditionalists during a 12-year papacy.

Mourners gathered, many in tears, in St Peter’s Square, where just a day earlier the the frail-looking pontiff had greeted worshippers on Easter Sunday, having recently left hospital following a 38-day battle with double pneumonia.

World leaders paid tribute to Francis’ moral and spiritual…

Pope Francis, an energetic reformer who inspired widespread devotion from Catholics but riled traditionalists, died on Monday aged 88, just a day after greeting delighted worshippers after Easter Mass.

The death of the Argentine pontiff, leader of the Catholic Church since March 2013, came less than a month after having been released from hospital following a 38-day battle with double pneumonia.

Some visitors to St Peters Square — where a frail-looking Francis was cheered by Easter Sunday…

Leaders across the Middle East region paid tribute to Pope Francis, who died on Monday at the age of 88, Anadolu news agency reported.

Pope Francis, who made history as the first Jesuit and first Latin American pontiff, died after battling an illness described by Vatican officials as a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis” associated with thrombocytopenia.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi mourned the pontiff, describing him as “an exceptional…