VATICAN CITY, April 2: Pope John Paul II, who headed the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years, died on Saturday evening, the Vatican said in a statement. The news was immediately announced to around 60,000 gathered in St Peter’s Square and was met with a long applause, an Italian sign of respect. Bells tolled and many people wept openly. “Our Holy Father John Paul has returned to the house of the Father,” Archbishop Leonardo Sandri told the crowds. The Vatican statement said the 84-year-old Pontiff died at 9.37 p.m (1937 GMT).

“The Holy Father died this evening at 21.37 in his private apartment,” the statement said.

John Paul will be remembered for his role in the collapse of communism in Europe and his unyielding defence of traditional Vatican doctrines as leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics.

Huge crowds had staged a tearful vigil in St. Peter’s Square, praying for a man already being dubbed by some Catholics as “John Paul the Great”.

The Pope’s health had deteriorated steadily over the past decade and earlier this year took a sharp turn for the worse. The Pontiff, once a lithe athlete and powerful speaker, was already racked by arthritis and Parkinson’s Disease, his voice often reduced to a raspy whisper.

He was rushed to hospital twice in February and had to have a tracheotomy to ease serious breathing problems. But he never regained his strength from the operation and failed dramatically on two occasions to address crowds at St. Peter’s Square.

On Wednesday doctors inserted a feeding tube into his stomach to try boost his energy levels. A day later he developed a urinary infection and high fever that soon precipitated heart failure, kidney problems and ultimately death. —Reuters