VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said on Monday, ending an often turbulent reign marked by division and tension as he sought to overhaul the hidebound institution.

He was 88, and had suffered a serious bout of double pneumonia this year, but his death came as a shock after he had been driven around St. Peter’s Square in an open-air popemobile to greet cheering crowds on Easter Sunday.

“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican’s TV channel.

“At 7:35 (0535 GMT) this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”

Farrell will preside over a rite at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Monday when the pope’s body will be placed into a casket, part of the formalities that will culminate in a funeral at a date to be confirmed.

The Vatican said a ceremony planned for Sunday, April 27, when Carlo Acutis was to become the first Catholic saint of the millennial generation, had been postponed.

Francis had on Sunday made his first prolonged public appearance since being discharged on March 23 from a 38-day hospital stay for pneumonia.

In an Easter Sunday message read aloud by an aide as the pope looked on from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the pontiff had reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

At the Vatican, locals, tourists and pilgrims visiting for Easter expressed their shock and grief.

“This is something that really hits you hard,” said Emanuela Tinari, from Rome. “He was a pope who brought so many people closer to the church. He was not appreciated by everyone. But he definitely was by ordinary people.”

Final Meetings

Doctors had prescribed two months of rest when the pope left hospital last month but he appeared on a number of occasions and met Britain’s King Charles in April and had a brief meeting on Sunday with visiting U.S. Vice-President JD Vance.

“My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” Vance said on X.

Other world leaders were reacting to the pope’s death with praise for his efforts to reform the worldwide church and offering condolences to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni mourned the departure of “a great man, a great shepherd”.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “He inspired millions, far beyond the Catholic Church, with his humility and love so pure for the less fortunate.”

Jose Ramos-Horta, the president of East Timor, where Francis visited in September 2024 as part of the longest foreign trip of his papacy, said the pope “leaves behind a profound legacy of humanity, of justice, of human fraternity”.

12-Year Papacy

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, surprising many Church watchers who had seen the Argentine cleric, known for his concern for the poor, as an outsider.

He sought to project simplicity into the grand role and never took possession of the ornate papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, saying he preferred to live in a community setting for his “psychological health”.

He initiated changes within the Vatican, emphasizing transparency, accountability and financial reform, and appointed more women to senior posts in its hierarchy. However, he was also viewed as a haphazard leader, often blindsiding Vatican officials with his off-the-cuff comments.

He struggled to get a grip on the Church’s crisis over sexual abuse by clerics and he inherited a Church torn by infighting in the Vatican bureaucracy, and was elected with a clear mandate to restore order.

But as his papacy progressed, he faced criticism from conservatives, who accused him of trashing cherished traditions. He also drew the ire of progressives, who felt he should have done much more to reshape the 2,000-year-old Church.

While he struggled with internal dissent, Francis became a global superstar, drawing huge crowds on his many foreign travels as he tirelessly promoted interfaith dialogue and peace, taking the side of the marginalised, such as migrants.

Unique in modern times, there were two men wearing white in the Vatican for much of Francis’ rule, with his predecessor Benedict opting to continue to live in the Holy See after his shock resignation in 2013. Benedict, a hero of the conservative cause, died in December 2022.

Francis appointed nearly 80% of the cardinal electors who will choose the next pope, increasing the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies, despite the strong pushback from traditionalists.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Additional reporting by Angelo Amante and Crispian Balmer; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Janet Lawrence)