Pope Francis Dies At 88 After Health Crisis | Trump's Deputy, US Vice Prez JD Vance In India

The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis, the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics in the world, died on Easter at the age of 88 after battling various ailments for some time. The 88-year-old leader of the Vatican was admitted to the hospital for five weeks, fighting double pneumonia. He did not preside over the Vatican's Mass for Easter yesterday but appeared at the end of the event. In his Easter message, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The pope also called on the Palestinian operator group Hamas to release its remaining hostages and condemned what he said was a "worrisome" trend of antisemitism in the world. The pope had led the Catholic Church since 2013, becoming the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, the first Jesuit, and the first non-European pontiff in over 1,000 years. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires in 1936, Francis once trained as a chemist and even worked as a nightclub bouncer before joining the priesthood. He was hospitalised in February this year with double pneumonia but recovered enough to appear for Easter celebrations earlier this month. Watch The World Report for the latest updates.