Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95, the Vatican announced.
His death on Saturday came days after Pope Francis had asked for prayers for his predecessor, saying he was “very sick”.
The Holy See Press Office said Benedict, the first German pope in 1,000 years, died in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, which he had chosen as his residence after resigning in 2013.
The Vatican has been vague about what ailed Benedict, saying only that his worsening health was due to his advanced age.
For nearly 25 years, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict was the powerful head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, then known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
(CDF).
Conservatives in the Church have looked to the former pope as their standard bearer and some ultra-traditionalists even refused to acknowledge Francis as a legitimate pontiff.
They have criticised Francis for his more
welcoming approach to members of the LGBTQ
+ community and to Catholics who divorced
and remarried outside the Church, saying both
were undermining traditional values.
Like his predecessor John Paul, Benedict made
reaching out to Jews a hallmark of his papacy.
His first official act as pope was a letter to
Rome’s Jewish community and he became the
second pope in history, after John Paul, to enter
a synagogue.
In his 2011 book, “Jesus of Nazareth,” Benedict
made a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish
people for the death of Christ, explaining
biblically and theologically why there was no
basis in Scripture for the argument that the
Jewish people as a whole were responsible for
Jesus’ death.
Controversies
However, as pope he also came under fire for a
string of public relation controversies, and a
perceived lack of charisma.
Most importantly, as an ever-growing number
of victims spoke out of their abuse, mostly as
children, at the hands of priests, he was
criticised for his failure to act decisively to end
Church cover-ups.
Before his election as pope, Benedict led the
Vatican’s doctrinal congregation, once known
as the Holy Office of the Inquisition, giving him
ultimate responsibility to investigate abuse
cases.
He became the first pontiff to apologise for the
scandals that emerged around the world,
expressing “deep remorse” and meeting with
victims in person.
In 2010, he admitted that the Church “did not
act quickly or firmly enough to take the
necessary action” on an issue that severely
tarnished its image.
RIP