Former leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, has died, the Vatican announced today.
He was 95.
Pope Benedict was the head of the Catholic Church for almost eight years until 2013, when he resigned, becoming the first pontiff in 600 years to do so. He left because his health was failing him.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement:
“With pain, I inform that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesia Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be released as soon as possible. As of Monday morning, 2 January 2023, the body of the Pope Emeritus [Benedict XVI] will be in Saint Peter’s Basilica so the faithful can bid farewell.” ”
Plans for his funeral will be announced later today.
The former pontiff had been unwell for some time, and Vatican authorities said his condition had deteriorated further because of advancing age.
Pope Francis Changes The Lord’s Prayer…Sparks Anger Among Some Christians
On 28 December 2022, Pope Francis appealed to his final audience of the year at the Vatican to “pray a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict,” whom he said was very ill.
“I want to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who sustains the Church in his silence. He is very sick. We ask the Lord to console and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church to the very end.”
Benedict, born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, was the son of a police officer. He was ordained as a priest in 1951, made a cardinal in 1977, and later served as chief theological adviser to Pope John Paul II.
He succeeded Pope John Paul II, who passed on in 2005 from septic shock and cardio-circulatory collapse. He had had Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, and other ailments for several years before his death.
Pope Benedict was 78 years old when he became one of the oldest popes ever elected.
For much of Benedict’s papacy, the Catholic Church faced allegations, legal claims, and official reports into decades of child abuse by priests.
Earlier this year, the former Pope acknowledged that errors had been made in the handling of abuse cases while he was archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982.-iharare
