Barely hours before the new year 2023, the Catholic church and the entire world has been thrown into sober reflection as the pontiff Emeritus, Pope Benedict XVI dies at the age of 95.
The Holy See Press Office announced that the Pope Emeritus died at 9:34 AM on Saturday morning in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, which he had chosen as his residence after resigning from the Petrine ministry in 2013.
Signed by the Holy See Press Director, Matteo Bruni, the statement notes that the body of the Pope Emeritus will be in Saint Peter’s Basilica as of Monday, 2nd January so the faithful can bid farewell.
“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, 2 January 2023, the body of the Pope Emeritus will be in Saint Peter’s Basilica so the faithful can bid farewell.”
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI never ceased to call for conversion, penance and humility, offering an image of the Church freed from material and political privileges in order to be truly open to the world.
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