Former pope Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95, the Vatican announced Saturday, almost a decade after he became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,\u201d Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The German pope emeritus, whose birth name was Joseph Ratzinger, had been living a quiet life in a former convent inside the Vatican grounds since his shock decision to step down in February 2013.<\/p>\n
His health had been declining for a long time, but the Vatican revealed on Wednesday that his situation had worsened, while his successor Pope Francis called for Catholics worldwide to pray for him.<\/p>\n
His death brings to an end an unprecedented situation in which two \u201cmen in white\u201d \u2014 Benedict and Francis \u2014 had co-existed within the walls of the tiny city state.<\/p>\n
While there is no rulebook for former popes, Benedict\u2019s funeral is expected to be at the Vatican, presided over by Francis.<\/p>\n
In 2005 the body of John Paul II, the last pope to die, lay in state before a funeral mass in St Peter\u2019s Square attended by one million people, including heads of state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former pope Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95, the Vatican announced Saturday, almost a decade after he became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries. \u201cWith sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,\u201d Vatican spokesman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-304660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n