Pope John Paul II dies

Pope John Paul II, the Polish pontiff who led the Roman Catholic Church for more than a quarter century and became history’s most-travelled pope, died tonight in his Vatican apartment. He was 84.

“The Holy Father died this evening at 8.37pm in his private apartment. All the procedures outlined in the apostolic Constitution ‘Universi Dominici Gregis’ that was written by John Paul II on February 22, 1996, have been put in motion,” the Holy See said in a statement.