Pope Benedict XVI: Nearly ten years after becoming the first pope to step down in six centuries, the Vatican announced on Saturday that former pope Benedict XVI had passed away at the age of 95.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away today at 9:34 at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican, according to a statement from Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni.
Since his shocking resignation in February 2013, the German pope emeritus, whose birth name was Joseph Ratzinger, had been leading a tranquil life at a disused convent on the premises of the Vatican.
While his successor Pope Francis urged Catholics worldwide to pray for him, the Vatican disclosed on Wednesday that his health had deteriorated further.
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Scandal and internal strife
Benedict had reportedly almost completely withdrew from public view, and the rare images that did surface of him revealed his weakness.
He became the first pope to resign from his position as leader of the Catholic church since 1415 in 2013, citing his deteriorating physical and mental health.
Although he was a great theologian, Benedict was criticised for his lack of leadership during the scandal involving clerical sexual abuse of children, which rocked the Catholic Church worldwide.
After a damning investigation for the German church accused him of personally failing to stop four predatory priests in the 1980s while archbishop of Munich, the abuse crisis clouded his final months.
He vigorously denied any misconduct, and the Vatican vigorously defended his record as the first pope to apologise for the scandals and express his personal “deep regret” and talked to victims.
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He succeeded the long-reigning and well-liked John Paul II in April 2005
The first German pope of the modern period, Benedict was 78 years old when he succeeded the long-reigning and well-liked John Paul II in April 2005. Benedict was born on April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria.
He later remarked his election felt “like the guillotine”.
Benedict was a conservative academic known as “God’s Rottweiler,” in contrast to his successor Pope Francis, a Jesuit who enjoys being around his sheep “in a prior position as the primary enforcer of doctrine.
His papacy was marred by controversy, including remarks that infuriated the Muslim world, a money-laundering scandal at the Vatican bank, and a humiliating incident when, in 2012, his butler disclosed classified documents to the media.
In spite of vowing to live hidden from the world. He continued to speak out on important Church matters following his resignation through books, interviews, and essays.
He voiced his opposition to allowing priests to be married in January 2020. A year prior, he attributed the clerical abuse scandals to the sexual revolution of the 1960s and a decline in Western faith.
In a March 2021 interview, he asserted that “there is only one pope,” but he also conceded that some of his supporters were “fanatical” and would not accept his retirement.
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