Benedict XVI died at the age of 95, the Vatican announced this Saturday, December 31. Pope Francis said on Wednesday that his predecessor was “seriously ill” and called for prayers for the one whose resignation in 2013 for health reasons took the world by surprise. The health of the former pope had deteriorated in recent days. “It is his vital functions that are failing, including the heart,” a Vatican source told AFP on Wednesday, adding that no hospitalization was planned, the residence of Benedict XVI having the necessary medical equipment. Francis himself visited Benedict XVI on Wednesday at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, the residence of the pope emeritus located in the heart of the Vatican gardens.
Benedict XVI, whose eight-year pontificate (2005-2013) was marked by multiple crises, was overtaken at the start of 2022 by the scandal of pedocrime in the Church. Questioned by a report in Germany on his management of sexual violence when he was archbishop of Munich, he came out of his silence to ask “forgiveness”, but assured that he had never covered up a paedocriminal. Joseph Ratzinger appeared more and more fragile in recent months, moving in a wheelchair, but he continued to receive visitors. The photos of his last visit received, dating from December 1, showed a frail and visibly weakened man, but with still lively eyes.