"The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. (2:37 p.m. EST) in his private apartment. All the procedures outlined in the apostolic Constitution `Universi Dominici Gregis' that was written by John Paul II on Feb. 22, 1996, have been put in motion." The announcement came from papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls and was distributed to journalists via e-mail.

The pope died after suffering heart and kidney failure following two hospitalizations in as many months. Just a few hours earlier, the Vatican had said he was in "very serious" condition but responded to members of the papal household.

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