The official news outlet of the Holy See, Vatican News, wrote: “Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has returned to the Father’s House.”
According to the Holy See Press Office, Pope Emeritus died at 9:34 a.m. on Saturday morning in his house at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, which the 95-year-old Pope emeritus chose as his abode after resigning from the Petrine ministry in 2013.
The announcement read:
“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 AM in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible. As of Monday morning, 2 January 2023, the body of the Pope Emeritus will be in Saint Peter’s Basilica so the faithful can pay their respects.”
For several days, the Pope Emeritus’ health had deteriorated due to advanced age.
Pope Francis made the news about his predecessor’s deteriorating health public at the end of the year’s final General Audience on December 28.
The Pope had asked people to pray for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who was “extremely unwell,” so that the Lord may soothe and strengthen him “in this witness of love for the Church to the end.”
Prayer movements sprang up and spread across all continents in response to this request, as did an outpouring of expressions of sympathy and friendship from secular leaders.
During a press conference at the Holy See Press Office at midday, the director, Matteo Bruni, informed journalists that Pope Francis will preside over the Pope Emeritus’ funeral on 5 January at 9.30 a.m. CET in St. Peter’s Square.
He said that the body of Benedict XVI would lie in state in the Basilica beginning Monday, so that those who choose to do so can pay their final respects with prayers and a final farewell.
Bruni further stated that the Pope Emeritus received the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick in the monastery after Holy Mass on Wednesday, 28th.
And, speaking to reporters after the briefing, he stated that Benedict particularly requested that everything, including the burial, be simple, just as he lived his life.
