Bad news on the last day of 2022! Former Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI died today at the Vatican’s monastery of the Mother of the Church at the age of 95, a spokesman for the Holy See confirmed.
“It is with sadness that I inform you that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away at 9:34 this morning at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,” a spokesman for the Holy See said in a statement. “
Benedict XVI was originally named Joseph. Joseph Ratzinger, born in Germany, decided to resign as Pope in 2013 on the grounds of declining mental and physical strength, becoming the first universal Catholic leader to abdicate since 1415. His abdication also created an unprecedented situation where two popes lived together within the walls of the Vatican.
Benedict XVI has been in poor health for many years. Pope Francis issued an alarm that Benedict XVI is “very ill” at the end of his public audience on the 28th, calling on the faithful to pray for him. Francis later visited the Abbey of the Mother of the Church, where Benedict XVI lived.
