Benedict XVI, first pope to resign in 600 years, dies at 95

Former Pope Benedict died on Saturday within the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery within the Vatican.

Vatican City,UPDATED: Dec 31, 2022 16:36 IST

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives to attend a mass for the beatification of former pope Paul VI in St. Peter’s sq. on the Vatican. (File picture/ Reuters)

By Associated Press: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who can be remembered as the primary pope in 600 years to resign, has has died, the Vatican introduced Saturday. He was 95.

Benedict shocked the world on Feb. 11, 2013, when he introduced, in his typical, soft-spoken Latin, that he not had the power to run the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church that he had steered for eight years by scandal and indifference.

His dramatic resolution paved the best way for the conclave that elected Pope Francis as his successor. The two popes then lived side-by-side within the Vatican gardens, an unprecedented association that set the stage for future “popes emeritus” to do the identical.

A press release from Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni on Saturday morning stated that: “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.”

Published On:

Dec 31, 2022