Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died. The health of the former pope was serious and he spent his nights assisted by doctors.
Former Pope Benedict XVI, the first to resign in recent centuries, has died at the age of 95.
“It is with sadness that I inform you that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away today at 9:34 a.m. in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,” said the director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Matteo Bruni.
His health had suffered a “deterioration in recent hours”
“Further information will follow as soon as possible,” he added.
Starting Monday, January 2, 2023, the lifeless body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will lie in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican for the separation of the faithful.
The health of Pope Emeritus, as Benedict was called after he resigned, had suffered a “deterioration in recent hours” due to age, the Vatican said, and doctors were constantly monitoring his condition.
Pope Francis, who replaced him as head of the Catholic Church, had asked the faithful to pray for him at the end of his general audience. The Sovereign Pontiff went to visit Benedict at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican after the general audience.
In recent years he had become increasingly frail
Benedict lived in the Vatican after he ceased to be pope in 2013. In recent years he had become increasingly frail, having devoted his post-papal life to prayer and meditation.
For hundreds of years, before Benedict became Holy Father, popes ruled the Catholic Church until their deaths.