Pope Francis, the first pope from South America, died today at 7:35 a.m. Rome time, a day after giving the Easter blessing at St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Vatican announced his death this morning, weeks after he was released from the hospital after recovering from pneumonia.

“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican TV channel.

“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church.″

The Argentinean-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio became pope in March 2013. He took over after Pope Benedict XVI became the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign as head of the Roman Catholic Church. Benedict was elected in 2005 at age 78 to succeed Pope John Paul II as the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

Pope Francis, whose chronic lung disease dated back to when he had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14 and was released from the hospital March 23 after 38 days fighting pneumonia.

He made his first public appearance after his release from the hospital on April 6. Despite looking frail, he continued to make public appearances increasingly and took part in celebrating Holy Week, riding into St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile on Easter Sunday.

The death of the pope will now trigger a conclave of the College of Cardinals, the highest-ranking officials in the Catholic Church, to elect a new pope.