Benedict stunned the world on Feb. 11, 2013, when he announced, in his typical, soft-spoken Latin, that he no longer had the strength to run the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church.
A statement from the Vatican said, "With pain I inform that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesia Monastery in the Vatican." Bill Ritter reports.Dignitaries and religious leaders have been paying tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died Saturday in a monastery in the Vatican at the age of 95.
The former pope's body will lie in state in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican from Monday for the faithful to bid farewell, Vatican News reported Saturday. As per the wish of Pope Emeritus, his funeral will be "simple," Bruni said. "Gratitude to him for all the good he accomplished and above all for his witness of faith and prayer, especially in these last years of his life. Only God knows the value of his sacrifices for the good of the church," Francis said.
Ratzinger became known as "Cardinal No" stemming from his efforts to crack down on the liberation theology movement, religious pluralism, challenges to traditional teachings on issues such as homosexuality, and calls to ordain women as priests.
The report found that while in the post he had been informed of four cases of sexual abuse involving minors -- including two that had occurred during his time in office -- but failed to act. It also revealed Benedict had attended a meeting about an abuser identified as Priest X. Following the report's publication, Benedict pushed back against accusations that he knew in 1980 that this priest was an abuser.
"In 2013 Pope Benedict took the courageous and humble step to resign the papacy, the first Pope to do so since the fifteenth century. In making this choice freely he acknowledged the human frailty that affects us all," he added. Kirill added relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church had "developed significantly" during Benedict's tenure, in an effort to "overcome the sometimes-painful legacy of the past."
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