Benedict XVI Dies aged 95

    Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI

By Bernadette Idalu
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger, in Germany, in 1927, today, Saturday, December 31, 2022, after  protracted illness, ascended to higher glory aged 95yrs.

Before his death, he led the Catholic Church for nearly eight years, becoming the first pope to resign in six centuries, in 2013, citing the lack of physical and mental strength to serve as pope as reasons for stepping aside. It is worthy of note that his Butler and even his elder brother, a senior ranking priest, were found to have been deeply involved at giving out leaks about the Vatican to journalists.

In a 2018 letter to Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, Benedict cited reasons for going into seclusion as, “The slow withering of my physical forces,” saying he was “On an interior pilgrimage towards home.”

He rarely made public appearances in his retirement, dedicating the last years of his life to prayer and meditation as he lived in a former convent in the Vatican.

Benedict’s death followed an appeal by Pope Francis to pray for his predecessor, with the Vatican announcing the former pontiff’s health had worsened due to “advanced age.”




























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