Rome Italy.- Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a German theologian who shocked the world in 2013 by resigning to lead a Church rocked by intrigue and scandal, has died on Saturday at the age of 95, the Vatican announced.
“It is with regret that I announce that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away today at 9:34 a.m., in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery,” the director of the Holy See’s press service, Matteo Bruni, said in a statement.
Shortly before 11:00 local time (10:00 GMT), the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang and hundreds of people came to the square to remember the figure of Joseph Ratzinger, a refined ultra-conservative theologian who chose the name Benedict. XVI after being named head of the Catholic Church in 2005.
For the first time in the thousand-year history of the Catholic Church, the reigning Pope, Francis, will preside over the funeral of another Pope on January 5, this time without functions.
“According to the wish of the Pope Emeritus, the funeral will be carried out in the greatest simplicity,” the papal spokesman said.
The body of the Emeritus Pontiff will be exposed starting Monday in the Basilica of Saint Peter, to be venerated by believers.
Before his burial he will be placed in a coffin covered by two others: the exterior, made of elm wood; the one in the middle, of lead; and the interior, made of cypress wood.
End of the coexistence of “two Popes”
Ratzinger’s death puts an end to the unusual coexistence of two Popes, both in white cassocks, between the brilliant ultra-conservative and unpopular theologian and the Argentine Jorge Bergoglio, a Jesuit who wanted a papacy dedicated to the poor and migrants.
On Wednesday, during the general audience, Francis asked to pray for the health of his predecessor, who was “very ill” and whom he went to visit in his room.
Ratzinger, the first German pope of the modern era, replaced in 2005 the charismatic John Paul II, who had been his right-hand man for a quarter of a century as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the former Holy Office of the Inquisition. .
His eight-year pontificate was marked by scandals and intrigues within the Church.
After resigning, he promised to maintain an absolute retirement, without overshadowing his successor, Pope Francis.
But he was involved – in some cases, involuntarily, according to observers – in the campaigns of the ultra-conservative sectors that frown on the openings of the Argentine Pontiff in the social field.
And at the beginning of 2022, he was affected by accusations that he covered up four cases of pedophilia when he was Archbishop of Munich, between 1977 and 1981.
Faced with the pressure of a German report that accused him of negligence in the handling of these pedophilia cases, he broke his silence to ask for “pardon” and express his “deep” shame.
“Soon I will face the ultimate judge of my life. Although looking back on my long life I may have much to fear and be afraid of, I am in a joyful frame of mind because I am firmly confident that the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother who has already suffered my deficiencies and is, therefore, as a judge, at the same time my lawyer”, he affirmed.
The Tributes
His death has sparked reactions around the world, including from the Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual head of the Anglican Church, who described Ratzinger as “one of the greatest theologians of his time.”
The Russian Orthodox Patriarch Cyril also paid tribute to him, considering him a defender of “traditional values”.
For the Italian Prime Minister, the far-right Giorgia Meloni, “a giant of Faith and Reason” died, “a great man of History whom History will not forget.”
The German head of government, Olaf Scholz, lamented the loss of “a notable figure”, who was characterized by his “combatant personality”.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, estimated that Ratzinger worked “for a more fraternal world” and the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, declared himself “saddened” by the death of a “great theologian”.
