Vatican News tweeted: “I regret to inform you that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away today at 9:34 am at the Convent of the Church of Our Lady in the Vatican. We will provide more information as soon as possible.”
Published Date – Sat 12/31/22 at 04:30pm
Photo: AP/PTI
Vatican City: Former Pope Benedict XVI died at his Vatican residence on Saturday at the age of 95.
“It is with sadness that I inform you that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away at 9:34 this morning in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae convent. Further information will be provided as soon as possible,” Vatican News tweeted.
Pope Benedict died two days after Pope Francis asked for prayers for the “very ill” former pope, CNN said in a report.
“I would like to ask everyone to pray especially for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has supported the Church in silence. He is very ill,” Pope Francis said Wednesday to a general audience at the Vatican.
Pope Francis added: “We ask the Lord to comfort and support him, to bear witness to his love for the Church until the end.”
Pope Benedict XVI shocked the world in 2013 when he made the almost unprecedented decision to resign, citing “advanced age”. According to CNN, Benedict’s announcement marks the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years.
Gregory XII was the last Pope to resign before Gregory XII’s death in 1415, ending a civil war within the Catholic Church in which Among them, more than one person claimed to be the pope.
