Pope Francis, Catholic Church's first Latin American pontiff, has died at 88

Pope Francis died Monday in Rome at the age of 88, just weeks after he was released from hospital following a respiratory tract infection that developed into pneumonia.

His death, announced by the Vatican, came a day after his last public appearance on Easter Sunday, when he blessed thousands at St. Peter's Square, the Associated Press reported.

“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow, I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, The Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the Father’s house. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His church," declared the Vatican in a statement read by Cardinal Kevin Farrell. “He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalized."

Prior to his death, Francis had been battling a case of bronchitis. He was admitted to a hospital on Feb. 14, where he remained for weeks before being released in late March. Even while lying on a hospital bed, the Francis attended to pontifical duties, preparing an Ash Wednesday homily that a cardinal read on his behalf at Rome’s Basilica of Saint Sabina and calling a parish priest in war-torn Gaza, where 135 Catholics congregate at the Holy Family Church.

Born on Dec. 17, 1936 as Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the pope was ordained a priest in 1969. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. After Pope Benedict XVI resigned in February 2013, Bergoglio, at 76 year old was elected to be the first Jesuit pope as well as the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere.

Bergoglio chose as his papal name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, who left his wealthy inheritance to live by vows of poverty and embraced all living creatures, human and animal alike, as brothers and sisters in Christ. The name appeared to set the tone for his leadership of a church that he declared should be "for the poor" and be defined by God's mercy to all.

Indeed, Francis was noted for his criticism of neoliberal capitalism, which he argued was a driving cause of poverty and human suffering, not its resolution.

“This system, with its relentless logic of profit, is escaping all human control," he said. "It is time to slow the locomotive down, an out-of-control locomotive hurtling towards the abyss. There is still time.”

His position has led some observers to suggest that Francis was sympathetic towards Catholic liberation theology, which emerged in Latin America and calls for liberating the poor from political and economic oppression. As a Jesuit leader in Argentina during a brutal military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s, he certainly enjoyed proximity to the movement, but did not consider himself a part of it and even faced allegations of not doing enough to oppose the regime.

Nevertheless, as pope, Francis rehabilitated and reconciled with several liberation theologians once exiled by his predecessors and seemed to share the goal of orienting the church more towards serving the oppressed. To that end he not only criticized capitalism, but also encouraged a more welcoming attitude toward the LGBTQ+ community, Catholic divorcees and women as leaders in the church, while stressing the need for addressing climate change and denouncing the Trump administration’s mass deportation of immigrants.

Though Francis pledged to tackle the church's ongoing clergy sex abuse crisis, some followers have criticized him for taking only half-hearted measures, or at worst, actively hindering some reforms. Others criticized the institution he led for being far behind the times in general.

Francis' positions had drawn backlash from some conservative parishioners, who objected to his suggestion that divorced Catholics could still receive the Eucharist, and more recently, his objection to Trump's deportation plans. Francis, for his part, said that his critics did not understand the difference between taking “tradition into account” and being “closed up inside a dogmatic box."

Francis not only defied members of his own church, but also a long history of health problems that included previous respiratory infections as well as surgeries for colon and abdominal issues. As a young man, he had part of his right lung removed.

A public viewing will take place in St. Peter’s Basilica, as it has for other popes who have died, The New York Times reported. A funeral and burial are expected in four to six days, per church rules. New rules allow a pope to be buried in a church other than St. Peter’s. Francis asked to be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a church in Rome he often visited to pray in.

Within 15 to 20 days, church rules call for the cardinals to gather in Rome to elect a successor.