ByBob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dead: Pope Benedict XVI greets the crowd gathered in St Mark's Square while crossing the square on an electric car on May 7, 2011, Benedict died on Saturday in Vatican City.(Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images) (Marco Secchi/Getty Images)
(Marco Secchi/Getty Images)
ByBob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict Emeritus Benedict XVI, a German theologian who became the first pontiff to resign in more than 600 years, died Saturday, the Vatican announced. He was 95.
“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,” Matthew Bruni, the director of the press office of the Holy See, said in a statement. “Further information will be provided as soon as possible.”
The Vatican said that Benedict’s body would lie in state at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome “to be greeted by the faithful,” The New York Times reported. Officials added that Pope Francis will celebrate the funeral Mass for Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday, according to The Associated Press.
“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.
Pope Francis praised his predecessor’s “kindness” in his first public comments since Benedict’s death, the news organization reported.
Speaking during a New Year’s Eve vigil, Francis thanked Benedict for “his testimony of faith and prayer, especially in these final years of retired life.”
Born Joseph Alois Ratzinger in Bavaria on April 16, 1927, was a cardinal and the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office when he was elected on April 19, 2005, to succeed Pope John Paul II as the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Benedict stunned the Roman Catholic church when he announced his resignation as pontiff during a routine ceremony with Vatican cardinals on Feb. 11, 2013, The Washington Post reported. Benedict told the cardinals he had made “a decision of great importance for the life of the church.”
Citing his health, Benedict became the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415, according to the Post. Gregory XII resigned to end a civil war within the church. His resignation enabled a special council to excommunicate the pope based in Avignon, France, and start fresh with a new, single leader of the church, according to the newspaper.
Benedict was ordained a priest in 1951 and was named archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977, the same year that he became a cardinal, the Times reported. In 1981, John Paul II called the cardinal to Rome, where he became the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office responsible for defending church orthodoxy, according to the newspaper.
He led the office for nearly 25 years.
Benedict once said that being elected pope felt like a “guillotine” had come down on him, the AP reported.
Some of Benedict’s decisions, while forceful, were also decisive. He steered the Catholic Church on a more conservative path, relaxing restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass, according to the AP.
In 2008, Benedict changed a Latin prayer for Good Friday services, deleting a reference to Jews and their “blindness” but nevertheless calling for them to accept Jesus. The following year, he lifted the excommunications of four bishops, including a Holocaust denier.
Documents leaked by Benedict’s former butler to Italian reporters would reveal corruption within the Roman Curia, the Post reported. The Vatican bank was criticized for its operations, which led some foreign financial institutions to temporarily suspend its credit transactions.
Benedict’s reign will also be remembered for revelations of sexual abuse by Catholic priests -- which first emerged during John Paul II’s papacy -- and efforts by church officials to cover it up, the Post reported.
“We can reveal the face of the church and how this face is, at times, disfigured,” Benedict said in his final homily as pope. “I am thinking in particular of the sins against the unity of the church, of the divisions in the body of the church.”
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Through the years VATICAN CITY - APRIL 19: Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (C) of Germany, waves from a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals April 19, 2005 in Vatican City. The 265th Pope will lead the world's 1 billion Catholics. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - APRIL 19: Newly elected Pope Benedict XVI appears on the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica on April 19, 2005 in Vatican City. German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the 265th Pope and will lead the world's 1 billion Catholics. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY - APRIL 24: Pope Benedict XVI holds his inaugural mass at St. Peter's Square April 24, 2005 in Vatican City. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims attended the first mass led by the 265th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY - APRIL 24: Pope Benedict XVI leads his inaugural mass in Saint Peter's Square on April 24, 2005 in Vatican City. Thousands of pilgrims attended the mass led by the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - DECEMBER 24: Pope Benedict XVI gives Christmas Night Mass at St. Peter's Basilica on December 24, 2009 in Vatican City, Vatican. The mass on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are scheduled to be televised in an estimated 73 countries. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - DECEMBER 31: Pope Benedict XVI leads the First Vespers and Te Deum prayers at St. Peter's Basilica on December 31, 2009 in Vatican City, Vatican. On new year's eve two different perspectives converge; one is the end of the calendar year, the other is the solemn liturgy of Mary, which concludes with the Octave of the Nativity. The first event is common to everyone, the second is for believers. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - APRIL 03: Pope Benedict XVI holds the Book of the Gospels during the Easter vigil mass in St. Peter's Basilica on April 3, 2010 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Easter Vigil Mass ushers in the celebration of Easter. (Photo by Elisabetta Villa/Getty Images) (Elisabetta Villa/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - APRIL 04: Pope Benedict XVI delivers his Easter 'Urbi et Orbi' blessing from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica on April 04, 2010 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Urbi et Orbi is a blessing and message delivered twice-yearly to the City and the World in 63 languages.(Photo by L'Osservatore Romano - Vatican Pool/Getty Images) (Pool/Getty Images)
Through the years CASTEL GANDOLFO, ITALY - JULY 26: Pope Benedict XVI reads papers in his summer residence on July 26, 2010 in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, Italy. The Pontiff will visit England from September 16 - 19. (Photo by L'Osservatore Romano - Vatican Pool via Getty Images) (Pool/Getty Images)
Through the years EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 16: Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Benedict XVI leave to meet school children outside the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland, on September 16, 2010 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Pope Benedict XVI is conducting the first state visit to the UK by a Pontiff. During the four day visit Pope Benedict will celebrate mass, conduct a prayer vigil as well as beatify Cardinal Newman at an open air mass in Cofton Park. His Holiness will meet The Queen as well as political and religious representatives. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Through the years VENICE, ITALY - MAY 07: Pope Benedict XVI greets the crowd gathered in St Mark's Square while crossing the square on an electric car on May 7, 2011 in Venice, Italy. Pope Benedict XVI is visiting Venice until May 8, some 26 years after his predecessor Pope John Paul II last visited the city. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images) (Marco Secchi/Getty Images)
Through the years VENICE, ITALY - MAY 07: Pope Benedict XVI (R), accompanied by Angelo Scola, Patriarch of Venice greets the crowd gathered in St Mark's Square while crossing the square on an electric vehicle on May 7, 2011 in Venice, Italy. Pope Benedict XVI is visiting Venice until May 8, some 26 years after his predecessor Pope John Paul II last visited the city. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images) (Marco Secchi/Getty Images)
Through the years ERFURT, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 24: Pope Benedict XVI arrives to lead morning mass at Domplatz square in front of the Erfurter Dom cathedral on September 24, 2011 in Erfurt, Germany. The Pope later lead morning mass for tens of thosands of assembled pilgrims. The Pope is in Erfurt on the third of a four-day visit to Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Through the years FREIBURG IM BREISGAU, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 24: Pope Benedict XVI arrives riding in the popemobile at Freiburg fair grounds for celebrating a vigil with young people on September 24, 2011 in Freiburg, Germany. The Pope is in Freiburg on the third of a four-day visit to Germany, and he will conclude his trip with an open air Sunday mass tomorrow near Freiburg. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images) (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
Through the years HAVANA, CUBA - MARCH 29: Pope Benedict XVI meets with former Cuban President Fidel Castro (R) at the Vatican embassy on March 29, 2012 in Havana, Cuba. The Pope is finishing up his first trip to Cuba, fourteen years after Pope John Paul II visited the communist country. (Photo by L'Osservatore Romano Vatican-Pool/Getty Images) (Pool/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - DECEMBER 24: Pope Benedict XVI waves to the faithfuls as he leaves St. Peter's Basilica at the end of the Christmas night mass on December 24, 2012 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - FEBRUARY 13: Pope Benedict XVI leads the Ash Wednesday service at the St. Peter's Basilica on February 13, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. Ash Wednesday opens the liturgical 40-day period of Lent, a time of prayer, fasting, penitence and alms giving leading up to Easter. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - FEBRUARY 27: Pope Benedict XVI kisses a child as he arrives in St Peter's Square for his final general audience on February 27, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Pontiff attended his last weekly public audience before stepping down tomorrow. Pope Benedict XVI has been the leader of the Catholic Church for eight years and is the first Pope to retire since 1415. He cites ailing health as his reason for retirement and will spend the rest of his life in solitude away from public engagements. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Through the years ROME, ITALY - FEBRUARY 28: Pope Benedict XVI waves to pilgrims, for the last time as head of the Catholic Church, from the window of Castel Gandolfo where he will start his retirement today on February 28, 2013 in Rome, Italy. Pope Benedict XVI has been the leader of the Catholic Church for eight years and is the first Pope to retire since 1415. He will stay at the Papal Summer residence of Castel Gandolfo until renovations are complete at a monastery in the grounds of the Vatican and will be known as Roman Pope Emeritus. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Through the years ROME, ITALY - FEBRUARY 28: Pope Benedict XVI walks away for the last time as head of the Catholic Church, from the window of Castel Gandolfo where he will start his retirement today on February 28, 2013 in Rome, Italy. Pope Benedict XVI has been the leader of the Catholic Church for eight years and is the first Pope to retire since 1415. He will stay at the Papal Summer residence of Castel Gandolfo until renovations are complete at a monastery in the grounds of the Vatican and will be known as Roman Pope Emeritus. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - APRIL 27: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI arrives at the Canonisation Mass in which John Paul II and John XXIII are to be declared saints on April 27, 2014 in Vatican City, Vatican. Dignitaries, heads of state and Royals from Europe and across the World are to attend the canonisations. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Through the years VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - FEBRUARY 14: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis attend the Ordinary Public Consistory at St. Peter's Basilica on February 14, 2015 in Vatican City, Vatican. In addition to 15 new electors, Pope Francis named five new cardinals who are over the age of 80 and, therefore, ineligible to vote in a conclave. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)