The 95-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away on Saturday at 9:34 AM in his residence at the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery.
By Vatican News:
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has returned to the Father’s House.
The Holy See Press Office announced that the Pope Emeritus died at 9:34 AM on Saturday morning in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, which the 95-year-old Pope emeritus had chosen as his residence after resigning from the Petrine ministry in 2013.
“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 bid farewell.”
News of worsening health condition
Already for several days, the health conditions of the Pope Emeritus had worsened due to advancing age, as the Press Office had reported in its updates of the evolving situation.
Pope Francis himself publicly shared the news about his predecessor’s worsening health at the end of the last General Audience of the year, on 28 December.
The Pope had invited people to pray for the Pope Emeritus, who was “very ill,” so that the Lord might console him and support him “in this witness of love for the Church until the end.”
Following this invitation, prayer initiatives sprung up and multiplied on all continents, along with an outpouring of messages of solidarity and closeness from secular leaders.
Funeral plans
In the next few hours, the Holy See Press Office will communicate details for the funeral rite.
Requiescat in Pace
God, Who, in Thine ineffable providence,
didst will that Thy servant Pope Benedict XVI
should be numbered among the high priests,
grant, we beseech Thee, that he,
who on earth held the place of Thine only-begotten Son,
may be joined forevermore to the fellowship of Thy holy
pontiffs.
Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son,
Who liveth and reigneth with Thee
in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
God, world without end.
Amen
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
I see this death as unnatural in the light of prophecy. May God have Mercy and give holy rest to his soul! May he intercede before God for a Church eclipsed and for all who remain faithful. This year ahead will rock the world with its changes.
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