The Holy See Press Office has announced that the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died at 9:34 AM on Saturday morning.
According to Vatican News, the 95-year-old Pope Emeritus died in Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, a residence he had chosen 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,” the statement reads.
Further information will be provided as soon as possible. As of Monday morning, 2 January 2023, the body of the Pope Emeritus will be in Saint Peter’s Basilica so the faithful can bid farewell.”
The health condition of the Pope Emeritus had worsened due to advancing age, as the Press Office had reported in its updates on the evolving situation.
Pope Francis himself publicly shared the news about his predecessor’s worsening health at the end of the last General Audience of the year, on 28th December.
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.