FORMER POPE BENEDICT XVI DIES AT 95 YEARS

DEATH OF FORMER POPE BENEDICT XVI IN VATICAN MONASTERY

Pope Benedict XVI originally called Joseph Alois Ratzinger, Pope Emeritus has been reported dead. CNN news reports that Dignitaries and religious leaders have been paying tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died Saturday in a monastery in the Vatican at the age of 95.

News of his death came days after Pope Francis asked the faithful to pray for Benedict, saying he was “very sick.” His health had been in decline for some time.

Matteo Bruni (the Director of the Press Office of the Holy See) 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,”.

The former pope’s body will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican from Monday for the faithful to bid farewell, Vatican News reported Saturday. As per the wish of Pope Emeritus, his funeral will be “simple,”

The funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be held on Thursday in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican City at 9:30 a.m. local time, Bruni said. The funeral will be led by Pope Francis.

In his lifetime;

• He was born in Germany in 1927.
• He was the son of a policeman. 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.
• “In 2013 Pope Benedict took the courageous and humble step to resign the papacy, the first Pope to do so since the fifteenth century. In making this choice freely he acknowledged the human frailty that affects us all,” he added.
• Benedict, who was the first pontiff in almost 600 years to resign his position, rather than hold office for life, passed away on Saturday, according to a statement from the Vatican.
• Benedict stunned the Catholic faithful and religious experts around the world on February 11, 2013, when he announced plans to step down from his position as Pope, citing his “advanced age.”
• In his farewell address, the outgoing pope promised to stay “hidden” from the world, but he continued to speak out on religious matters in the years following his retirement, contributing to tensions within the Catholic Church.
• In 1981, he took over as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, the Vatican office that oversees “the doctrine on the faith and morals throughout the Catholic world,” according to the Vatican.
• He was elected pope in April 2005, following John Paul II’s death.
• In April 2019, Benedict discussed the sex abuse crisis in a public letter, claiming that it was caused in part by the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the liberalization of the church’s moral teachings

“Saddened to learn of the demise of His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola tweeted Saturday.

“Europe mourns him. May he rest in peace.”

More so, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also paid tribute, saying, “I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” Sunak tweeted Saturday.

“Pope Benedict’s passing saddens me. My sympathy goes out to all Catholics,” von der Leyen said in a tweet, adding, “He had set a strong signal through his resignation. He saw himself first as a servant for God and his Church.”