Information reaching the NPO Reports says that Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI has died on Saturday. He was 95.
Pope Francis had last week confirmed that his predecessor was very sick.
The Holy See Press Office said Benedict died in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery.
Benedict had chosen the place as his residence his resignation in 2013.
According to Wikipedia, Pope Benedict was Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger embarked on an academic career and established himself as a highly regarded theologian by the late 1950s. He was appointed a full professor in 1958 at the age of 31. After a long career as a professor of theology at several German universities, he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1977, an unusual promotion for someone with little pastoral experience.
In 1981, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the most important dicasteries of the Roman Curia. From 2002 until his election as pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals. Prior to becoming pope, he was “a major figure on the Vatican stage for a quarter of a century”; he had an influence “second to none when it came to setting church priorities and directions” as one of John Paul II’s closest confidants. He lived in Rome from 1981 until his death in 2022.
The Vatican, in a short statement Saturday morning by Matteo Bruni
Vatican spokesman, said of the death of the former Pope, “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.”
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Benedict had succeeded John Paul II as Pope in 2005, before stepping down in 2013 citing age as reason.
He was the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign, and the first German in the role for 1,000 years, according to the BBC.