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Former pope Benedict XVI dies aged 95

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Vatican City - Former pope Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95, the Vatican announced Saturday, almost a decade after he became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries.


"With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican," Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.


The German pope emeritus, whose birth name was Joseph Ratzinger, had been living a quiet life in a former convent inside the Vatican grounds since his shock decision to step down in February 2013.


His health had been declining for a long time, but the Vatican revealed on Wednesday that his situation had worsened, while his successor Pope Francis called for Catholics worldwide to pray for him. His death brings to an end an unprecedented situation in which two "men in white" -- Benedict and Francis -- had co-existed within the walls of the tiny city-state.


While there is no rulebook for former popes, Benedict's funeral is expected to be at the Vatican, presided over by Francis.


In 2005 the body of John Paul II, the last pope to die, lay in state before a funeral mass in St Peter's Square attended by one million people, including heads of state. -


Back in 2013, he had cited his declining physical and mental health in his decision to become the first pope since 1415 to give up the job as head of the worldwide Catholic church.


Born on April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn, in Bavaria, Benedict was 78 when he succeeded the long-reigning and popular John Paul II in April 2005, the first German pope of the modern era.


He later said his election felt "like the guillotine". Unlike his successor Pope Francis, a Jesuit who delights in being among his flock, Benedict was a conservative intellectual dubbed "God's Rottweiler" in a previous post as a chief doctrinal enforcer.


Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign and the first German pope in 1,000 years, had good relations with his successor, Pope Francis, but his continued presence inside the Vatican after he stepped down in 2013


Before he formally stepped down, Benedict and his aides unilaterally chose the title "pope emeritus" and decided he would continue to wear a white cassock, albeit a slightly modified one. Some in the Church balked, saying he left his successor's hands tied. They said he should have returned to being a cardinal or a priest dressed in red or black. After the election of Pope Francis on March 13, Benedict moved into a converted convent on the Vatican grounds to spend his final years in prayer, reading, playing the piano, and receiving friends.


He appeared in public rarely, usually for major Church ceremonies, though he made an emotional visit in June 2020 to his ailing elder brother Georg, a priest, in Bavaria. Georg died shortly afterward, aged 96.


Francis has said that he would prefer the title Emeritus Bishop of Rome, as suggested by some if he one day resigned. He has also said he would not live in the Vatican but in a home for retired priests in Rome.


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