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Former Pope Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95, the Vatican has announced.
He passed away at 9.34am on Saturday in his residence at the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery.
Director of the Holy See press office Matteo Bruni said: “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.
“Further information will be provided as soon as possible.”
“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.
Further information will be provided as soon as possible.” pic.twitter.com/O5dxoPaVkT
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) December 31, 2022
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, said Benedict was “one of the great theologians of the 20th century”.
He said: “I remember with particular affection the remarkable papal visit to these lands in 2010. We saw his courtesy, his gentleness, the perceptiveness of his mind and the openness of his welcome to everybody that he met.”
The health of Pope Benedict worsened due to his age, with doctors constantly monitoring his condition.
On Thursday, Bruni said that the former pope’s condition was “serious”.
Pope Francis, Benedict’s successor, told a general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday he was “very sick” and added: “I want to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict who sustains the church in his silence.
“We ask the Lord to console and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church to the very end.”
Francis reportedly went to visit Benedict after his general audience.
Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, waves from a balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals April 19, 2005 in Vatican City.On Wednesday morning, the Vatican also revealed that Benedict’s condition had rapidly “worsened due to age” although he was receiving constant medical care and his condition was “under control” at the time.
Benedict resigned from his role as the head of the Catholic church in 2013 in an almost unprecedented move, explaining “advanced age” had prompted his decision.
It was the first time any pope had resigned, rather than remain active in the role until death, since 1415.
We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.
In 2010 he became the first Pope to visit the Abbey in its thousand-year history when he attended a service and prayed at the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor during his State Visit to the UK. pic.twitter.com/wTLHiPRayB
— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) December 31, 2022
He was known as pope emeritus and continued living in the Vatican, dedicating his life to prayer and meditation while still wearing the white cassock outfit associated with the pope.
He also kept his papal name rather than reverting back to his birth moniker, Joseph Ratzinger.
I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Benedict. He will be remembered as one of the great theologians of the 20th century.
I remember with particular affection the remarkable Papal Visit to these lands in 2010. pic.twitter.com/2fOoU50zVF— Cardinal Nichols (@CardinalNichols) December 31, 2022
Back in 2018, the former pope also told his followers, ”in the slow waning of my physical forces, inwardly I am on a pilgrimage toward home”, via a public letter published in Italian outlet Corriere della Sera.
The Vatican spoke out about Benedict’s health in 2020, revealing he was suffering from a “painful but not serious condition” amid media speculation about his health.
Pope Francis and his predecessor, former Pope Benedict
Source: Huff Post
