“With Sorrow I Inform You That Pope Benedict XVI Is Dead’

“With Sorrow I Inform You That Pope Benedict XVI Is Dead’ With those words today, the Papacy in Rome has announced the death of Former Pope Benedict XVI.

He was the first pontiff to resign in 600 years; he died aged 95.

The text read in full: “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,” a statement early Saturday said, with no cause of death mentioned.

“Further information will be provided as soon as possible,” the Papacy added in the statement.

The Vatican said his body would lie in state, on public display for the faithful to pay their final respects, starting Monday in St. Peter’s Basilica.

It will be recalled that on Wednesday, Pope Francis disclosed during his weekly general audience that his predecessor was “very sick,” and asked for people to pray for him.

Benedict’s funeral will be held in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday, Jan. 5 and will be presided over by Pope Francis, Bruni said. The ceremony will start at 9.30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET).

The Catholic Faith shook to its very foundation in February of 2013 when Benedict XVI announced his resignation from the office.

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Investigations were to show later how series of leaks of official transactions involving his office and traced to his butler, Paolo Gabriele must have unsettled the pope.

On 11 February 2013, while mentioning Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation for February 28, 2013, cited advanced age, as reason.

Despite being the fourth-oldest person to hold the office of pope, talk of his resignation was not acceptable to many people, given that in contemporary times, all popes have held office until death.

Even the Nigerian Cardinal, Francis Arinze, while responding to a BBC question on the subject that year, agreed that the scandal could not unconnected with the Pope’s decision to resign.

“It is legitimate for a person to speculate and say ‘Maybe,’ because some of his documents were taken secretly. It could be one of the reasons,”

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“Maybe he was so pained that his own butler leaked out so many letters that a journalist was able to write a book. It can be one of the reasons. I don’t expect him to be enjoying that event.”, Cardinal Arinze reportedly told the BBC journalist.

But to the moment, the news that Pope Benedict XVI is dead will remain a shocker to millions in the faith, especially at yuletide when many Bible-carrying Catholics are in celebration mood.