CNN –
Dignitaries and religious leaders have been paying tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday in a Vatican monastery at the age of 95.
Benedict, who was the first pontiff in nearly 600 years to resign from office, rather than serve for life, died on Saturday, according to a Vatican statement.
The director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni, said: “It is with sadness that I inform you that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery of the Vatican.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s funeral will be held Thursday in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City at 9:30 a.m. local time, Bruni said. The funeral will be conducted by Pope Francis.
The former pope’s body will lie in state at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican starting Monday for the faithful to say their goodbyes, Vatican News reported Saturday. According to the pope emeritus’ wishes, his funeral will be “simple,” Bruni said.
News of his death came days after Pope Francis asked the faithful to pray for Benedict, saying he was “very ill”.
“I want to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict to sustain the Church in his silence. He is very sick. We ask the Lord to comfort him and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church until the end ” Francis said at his general audience on Wednesday.
His health had been in decline for some time.
Benedict stunned Catholic faithful and religious experts around the world on February 11, 2013, when he announced his plans to step down as pope, citing his “advanced age.”
In his farewell address, the outgoing pope promised to remain “hidden” from the world, but continued to speak on religious issues in the years after his retirement, contributing to tensions within the Catholic Church.
Benedict was a powerful force in the Catholic Church for decades. Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany in 1927, he was the son of a policeman. He was ordained a priest in 1951, named a cardinal in 1977 and later was the main theological adviser to Pope John Paul II.
One of his most significant steps came in 1981 when he assumed the position of head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that oversees “doctrine on faith and morals throughout the Catholic world.” , according to the Vatican.
Ratzinger became known as “Cardinal No” following his efforts to suppress the liberation theology movement, religious pluralism, challenges to traditional teachings on issues such as homosexuality and calls to ordain women as priests .
He was elected pope in April 2005, after the death of John Paul II.
He was known to be more conservative than his successor, Pope Francis, who has taken steps to soften the Vatican’s stance on abortion and homosexuality, as well as doing more to tackle the sex abuse crisis than has surrounded the church in recent years and clouded it. Benedict’s legacy.
In April 2019, Benedict addressed the sexual abuse crisis in a public letter, stating that it was caused in part by the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the liberalization of the church’s moral teachings.
In January 2020, Benedict was forced to distance himself from a book widely seen as undermining Francis as it considered whether or not to allow married men to become priests in certain cases. The book, “From the bottom of our hearts,” argued in favor of the centuries-old tradition of priestly celibacy within the Catholic Church. Benedict was originally listed as a co-author, but later clarified that he had only contributed a section of the text.
A year later, Benedict came under fire for his time as archbishop of Munich and Freising, from 1977 to 1982, following the release of a Church-commissioned report into abuses by Catholic clergy there.
The report found that while in office, he had reported four cases of sexual abuse involving minors, including two that had occurred during his tenure, but failed to act. It also revealed that Benedict had attended a meeting about an abuser identified as Priest X. After the report was published, Benedict rejected allegations that he knew this priest was an abuser in 1980.
In a letter released by the Vatican amid the furore, Benedict wrote that he was “in good spirits” as he faced “the final judge of my life,” despite his shortcomings. He also issued a general apology to survivors of abuse.
World leaders paid tribute to the former pope after his death. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England, said he is “mourning” the former pope.
“Pope Benedict was one of the greatest theologians of his time, committed to the faith of the Church and unwavering in its defense,” Welby said in a statement on Saturday.
“In all things, especially in his writings and his preaching, he looked to Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God. It was very clear that Christ was the root of his thought and the basis of his prayer.
“In 2013, Pope Benedict took the brave and humble step of resigning from the papacy, the first Pope to do so since the 15th century. By making this choice freely, he recognized the human frailty that affects us all,” he added.
“Sad to learn of the passing of His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” tweeted the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, on Saturday.
“Europe mourns him. May he rest in peace.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also paid tribute. “I am saddened to hear of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” Sunak tweeted on Saturday.
“He was a great theologian whose visit to the UK in 2010 was a historic moment for Catholics and non-Catholics alike across our country.
“My thoughts are with Catholics in the UK and around the world today,” Sunak added.
Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, expressed her admiration for the former pope. Benedict XVI was a giant of faith and reason. He put his life at the service of the universal Church and spoke, and will continue to speak, to the hearts and minds of men with the spiritual, cultural and intellectual depth of his Magisterium,” he tweeted on Saturday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Saturday that the former pope “gave a strong signal with his resignation.”
“The death of Pope Benedict saddens me. My condolences go out to all Catholics,” von der Leyen said in a tweet, adding: “He had given a strong signal with his resignation. First he saw himself as a servant of God and his Church.”