New Delhi, April 21 -- Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said in a video statement on Monday, raising urgent questions about the Vatican's leadership and the future of the Catholic Church. The pontiff had been suffering from a prolonged respiratory crisis and had recently survived a serious bout of double pneumonia.

'Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,' Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican's TV channel. 'At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.'" The process of selecting a new pope, known as the conclave, typically begins between 15 and 20 d...