Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, age 95, passed away on Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 9:34 a.m. (2:34 a.m. CST) in his residence at the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has returned to the Father’s House.
— Vatican News
The Holy See Press Office announced that the Pope Emeritus died at 9:34 a.m. (GMT+1) on Saturday morning, December 31, 2022 in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, which the 95-year-old Pope emeritus had chosen as his residence after resigning from the Petrine ministry in 2013.
“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 AM in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible. As of Monday morning, January 2, 2023, the body of the Pope Emeritus will be in Saint Peter’s Basilica so the faithful can bid farewell.”
Benedict XVI, the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years, has died. YouTube Tips ⓘ
Recently, over a period of several days, the health conditions of the Pope Emeritus had worsened due to advancing age.
Pope Francis himself publicly shared the news about his predecessor’s worsening health at the end of the last General Audience of the year, December 28, 2022.
The Pope had invited people to pray for the Pope Emeritus, who was “very ill,” so that the Lord might console him and support him “in this witness of love for the Church until the end.”
Following this invitation, prayer initiatives sprung up and multiplied on all continents, along with an outpouring of messages of solidarity and closeness from secular leaders.
Funeral plans were not initially announced, but the Holy See Press Office stated details for the funeral rite will be communicated in the upcoming hours.