Pages freezes on iPad Pro after update, files inaccessible

Pages freeze!

iPad Pro 26.2.1

Updated Pages today.

The home screen freezes, then flashes, and gives a message that something went wrong.

I can access a recent file by going to the icon at the bottom of the screen and scrolling up to recents. I can scroll and edit that file, but if I try to go to the side bar or if I touch the tool bar at the top, the whole page totally freezes.

I cannot access my files beyond the 10 recents available from the bottom of the screen.

Even for the recent files, I have no access to the tool bar or any other editing features.

I have quit Pages and restarted, and that has made no difference.

I have years of reference files that I use very frequently and now I have no way of getting to them or even reading them.

Please advise how I can fix this problem.

Thank you for your help.