Pope died of stroke and heart failure, death certificate issued

Pope Francis died of a stroke and irreversible heart failure, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli said in a death certificate released on Monday for the 88-year-old pontiff.

The stroke led to a coma and "irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse," Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, the head of the Vatican’s health department, said in a statement reported by multiple news outlets.

Francis died Monday at 7:35 a.m. at the Casa Santa Marta guesthouse at the Vatican where he lived.

In a statement, Arcangeli said Francis also suffered from episodes of respiratory insufficiency and had previously had bilateral pneumonia, as well as type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Francis recently spent more than a month in the hospital with double pneumonia. But he emerged from his convalescence on Easter Sunday to bless the thousands of people in St. Peter's Square and make a surprise popemobile ride through the piazza.

It was his last public appearance before his death.

The certificate, which was published by the Vatican, said the pope had fallen into a coma before his death early on Monday.

 

Pope Francis' death certificate

Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, issued the official certification of Pope Francis' death.

The Holy See Press Office released the report on Monday evening.

The cause of death was identified as a stroke, followed by a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.

He had a prior history of acute respiratory failure caused by multimicrobial bilateral pneumonia, multiple bronchiectases, high blood pressure, and Type II diabetes, the report says.

Pope Francis' death was confirmed by " electrocardiographic thanatography," the report says, a heart monitoring procedure more commonly known as an EKG.