VATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict, who resigned in 2013 as the first pope in 600 years, died Saturday in the remote Vatican convent where he lived after his abdication.
The Vatican said his body will be placed in St. Peter’s Basilica from Monday. Although the Vatican has elaborate and elaborate rituals about what happens after the death of the current pope, nothing is publicly known about the former pope.
Spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement: “It is with great sadness that we announce that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away today at 9:34 am at the Mater Ecclesière Convent in the Vatican.
Earlier this week, Pope Francis revealed at his weekly general audience that his predecessor was “very sick” and asked people to pray for him.
For nearly 25 years as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict was the powerful head of the Vatican’s doctrinal department, then known as the Congregation for the Doctrines (CDF).
He was elected pope on April 19, 2005, succeeding the widely popular Pope John Paul II, who ruled for 27 years. Cardinals chose him among numbers that sought continuity and what they called “safe pairs.”
Benedict himself, the first German pope in 1,000 years, admitted he was a weak administrator and said he exhibited a “lack of resolve in governance and decision-making,” and his eight-year pope was marked by failures and leaks. marked by scandals.
Child-abuse scandals plagued most of his popes, but after taking a looser stance under his predecessor, he quickly began the process of chastising or dismissing predator priests, he said. It is believed
After his resignation, conservatives in the church viewed the former pope as a standard-bearer, and some ultra-traditionalists even refused to recognize Francis as the legitimate pope.
They criticize Francis for taking a more welcoming approach to members of the LGBTQ+ community and Catholics who divorced and remarried outside the church, both of which undermine traditional values. It states that
Philippe Plarella
