Pope Benedict XVI Dead at the Age of 95

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has passed away, the Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni said Saturday in a statement.

via: ABC News

“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible,” said the Director of the Holy See press office Matteo Bruni’s statement.

The Vatican press office has said that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s body will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican from Monday through Wednesday for the faithful to pay their respects.

His funeral is scheduled for Thursday at 9:30 a.m. local time in St. Peter’s Square on the parvis of St. Peter’s Basilica and will be presided over by Pope Francis, the Vatican press office said. Following the funeral mass, his coffin will be taken to the Vatican Grottoes, located below St. Peter’s Basilica, for burial.

After his surprise resignation in February 2013 at the age of 85, Benedict was only known to have left the tiny sovereign state briefly and was rarely seen in public.

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