Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Dies at 95

Former head of the Catholic Church Pope Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95. The Vatican announced his passing on Saturday 31st December 2022, his death occurred almost a decade after he became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries. "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," Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.

The German Pope Emeritus, whose birth name was Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, had been living a quiet life in a former convent inside the Vatican grounds since his shocking decision to step down in February 2013. His health had been declining for a long time, but the Vatican revealed on Wednesday that his situation had worsened, while his successor Pope Francis, called for Catholics worldwide to pray for him. The death of the Pope Emeritus brings to an end an unprecedented situation in which two "men in white" — Benedict and Francis — had co-existed within the walls of the tiny city state.

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While there is no rulebook for former popes, Benedict's funeral is  expected to hold at St Peter's Square, a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica, the papal enclave inside the Vatican on 5 January 2023, with Pope Francis presiding the ceremony. In 2005 the body of John Paul II, the last pope to die, lay in state before a funeral mass in St Peter's Square attended by one million people, including heads of state.  

May the soul of Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) rest in peace.