Pope Francis died of a stroke, which led to a coma and ultimately “irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse,’’ the Vatican announced Monday afternoon.
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Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, head of the Vatican’s health department, revealed the pontiff’s cause of death and noted that in addition to the cerebral stroke, the 88-year-old pope was suffering from pneumonia in both lungs, which caused episodes of respiratory insufficiency, according to AP.
Arcangeli also noted that Francis had type-2 diabetes and hypertension.
The pope’s death followed more than two months of being in and out of hospitals in Rome, where he battled severe respiratory infections and at times required high flows of supplemental oxygen and at least one emergency blood transfusion during his initial 38-day stay at Gemelli Hospital in the Italian capital.
He was initially hospitalized with bronchitis Feb. 14.