Benedict XVI was 95 years old.
Rome Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. is dead. He died at the age of 95. According to his successor Francis, he was recently “very ill”.
On Wednesday, at the end of the general audience in the Vatican, the current pontiff asked the faithful for a “special prayer” for Benedict. “Think of him, he is very ill. And ask the Lord to console and support him in this testimony of love for the Church to the end,” said Francis.
The archbishop and nuns have cared for Benedict for years in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican Gardens, where the pope emeritus has lived relatively isolated since his resignation in 2013.
Benedikt earned the reputation as “God’s Rottweiler”
Born in Bavaria, Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected successor to John Paul II in 2005, was the first German pope in almost 500 years.
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From April 19, 2005 until his resignation on February 28, 2013, Benedict XVI was Head of the Roman Catholic Church and thus also head of state of Vatican City. After Gregory V (996), he was the second Bavarian pope and after Celestine V (1294) the second pope in history to voluntarily resign from office.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. According to his successor Francis, he was “very ill” recently.
(Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
According to Vatican spokesman Bruni, Benedict was recently permanently monitored by doctors. It has been known for a long time that Benedict was physically weak and found it very difficult to speak. “Stable in weakness” is how Gänswein once described the physical condition of Papa Emeritus. Mentally, however, Benedikt was still fit, it was then said.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger appears after his election as Pope Benedict XVI. on the balcony of the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica of the waiting crowd in St. Peter’s Square.
(Photo: imago/epd)
He also received visitors at irregular intervals. At the beginning of December, Benedict received this year’s winners of the Ratzinger Prize, which the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. given to theologians and scientists in the name of the Pope Emeritus.
On the occasion of the Pope’s visit to Germany in September 2011, the Axel Springer Group presented this well-known title page on one of the publishing house’s buildings.
(Photo: imago stock&people)
For 25 years before his election as Pope, Benedict was the influential head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the most important authority in the Papal States with a focus on doctrine. In this capacity he was considered an uncompromising representative of the conservative wing in the Vatican. He disciplined followers of liberation theology in Latin America and thereby earned the reputation of “God’s Rottweiler”.
When he was Pope for five years, a scandal shook the Church
Benedict justified his resignation in 2013 with his advanced age and his poor health – he lacked the strength for the demanding office, he said at the time.
In February 1982, the Bavarian Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss presented a porcelain crucifix to the then Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (l). At that time he was recalled to the Vatican as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the highest and central authority for the interpretation and defense of Catholic doctrine.
(Photo: dpa)
He actually didn’t want to be pope at all, he later said. As the successor to the charismatic Pole Karol Wojtyla, the “Pope of the Century” John Paul II, it was not easy for him. The rather shy intellectual, who had been prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and thus the supreme guardian of Catholic doctrine for more than two decades, had not found contact with many believers.
When he was Pope for five years, the Catholic Church fell into one of its most serious crises: from 2010, decades of child abuse and cover-ups gradually came to light. Benedict remained confronted with abuse scandals into old age and even after his resignation.
Former Pope John Paul II (r) welcomes Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in the Vatican’s audience room.
(Photo: dpa)
A report from early 2021 accused him of making mistakes in four cases of sexual abuse of a clergyman on children and young people during his time as Archbishop of Munich and Freising. Benedict later apologized to all victims in a public letter.
At the age of 85, Benedict made his wish to resign public. According to a statement distributed in Rome on February 11, 2013, his mental and physical strength had declined so much over the past few months that he was no longer able to carry out his duties adequately. He therefore intends to resign on February 28, 2013 from his post, which he has held since 2005.
(Photo: imago stock&people)
Benedikt has not made any public appearances recently. He celebrated his 90th birthday again in 2017 with a delegation from his native Bavaria. After that he only received occasional visits to the monastery Mater Ecclesiae. In recent years he has, in his own words, been on a pilgrimage “home”.
More: Emeritus Pope Benedict admits false testimony in abuse reports