Former Pope Benedict XVI has died. He died at the age of 95, almost a decade after he stepped down due to ailing health.
The former Pope led the Catholic Church for less than eight years and resigned in 2013 when he became the first Pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.
He spent his final years at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery within the Vatican walls where he passed away recently.
His funeral will be led by his successor, Pope Francis, on January 5.
According to the Vatican, the body of Pope Emeritus will be placed in St Peter’s Basilica from January 2 for “the greeting of the faithful”.
Bells were ringing from Munich cathedral while a single bell was heard ringing from St Peter’s Square in Rome after Benedict’s death was announced.
While talking about Benedict’s death Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said Pope Benedict was “one of the great theologians of the 20th century”.
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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