Pope Benedict XVI
Nearly a decade after resigning due to failing
health, the former Pope Benedict XVI passed away at the age of 95.
After less than eight years in office, Francis
resigned as Pope in 2013, becoming the first pope to do so since Gregory XII in
1415. Benedict passed away on Saturday at 09:34 (08:34 GMT) after spending his
final years in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery inside the Vatican. The burial
will be officiated by his successor, Pope Francis, on January 5.
The Vatican said the body of the Pope Emeritus
will be placed in St Peter's Basilica from 2 January for "the greeting of
the faithful".
Bells rang out from Munich cathedral and a
single bell was heard ringing from St Peter's Square in Rome after the death
was announced.
In his first public comments since news of Pope
Benedict's death broke, Pope Francis called him a gift to the church,
describing him as a noble and kind man.
At a New Year's Eve service at the Vatican he
paid tribute to his "dearest" predecessor, emphasizing "his
sacrifices offered for the good of the church".
The head of the Catholic Church in England and
Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, said Pope Benedict was "one of the great
theologians of the 20th century".
In a statement he said: "I remember with
particular affection the remarkable Papal Visit to these lands in 2010. We saw
his courtesy, his gentleness, the perceptiveness of his mind and the openness
of his welcome to everybody that he met."
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