Benedict’s remains will be on display at the Vatican starting Monday for people to pay their final respects.
The local Catholic community is waking up to some devastating news out of the Vatican this morning as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died, as the Vatican informed.“In all of my personal interactions with Pope Benedict XVI, I found him to be an engaged leader, thoughtful in his decisions and always committed to the mission of the Church.”
Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s statement also highlighted the former pope’s decades of service. Benedict will be remembered as the first pope to voluntarily resign in nearly six hundred years. He stepped down in 2013, citing his advanced age and ebbing strength amid the clergy sex abuse scandal.Sign up for NECN newsletters.
The Vatican did not say what caused the 95-year-old’s death in an announcement this morning. But it comes after warning signs from Pope Francis, who asked people to pray for his predecessor’s health earlier this week. A funeral service will follow Thursday in Saint Peter’s Square, with Pope Francis presiding.
Former Boston College theology professor James Bretzke met the former pope multiple times and even gave him communion at the Vatican.