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