A former Pope of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, has passed away at the Vatican. His death comes not long after his successor, Pope Francis, said he was very ill and called for prayers for him.
He was 95 years.
Pope Benedict XVI served for about eight years, and he was the first pope to resign his post after Gregory XII in 1415. According to the BBC, Benedict spent his final years at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery within the walls of the Vatican.
His successor Pope Francis said he had visited him there frequently. The Vatican said in a statement: “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.” The Vatican said the body of Pope Emeritus will be placed in St Peter’s Basilica from 2 January for “the greeting of the faithful”. It says plans for Pope Benedict’s funeral will be announced in the next few hours.
Although the former pontiff had been ill for some time, the Holy See said there had been an aggravation in his condition because of advancing age.
On Wednesday, 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.
More About Pope Benedict
Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, Benedict was 78 when in 2005 he became one of the oldest popes ever elected.
For much of his 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.
