Former Pope Benedict XVI dies aged 95

German pontiff led the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 before unprecedented retirement

Joseph Ratzinger as a schoolboy in Aschau am Inn in 1932. AFP

Joseph Ratzinger, 10, with classmates in Aschau am Inn, Bavaria, where he went to school from 1932 to 1937. AFP

Joseph Ratzinger as a German Air Force assistant in 1943. AFP

Ratzinger, right, and his brother Georg, left, after their ordination in 1951 with his sister Maria, his mother Maria and his father Josef. AFP

Ratzinger during an open-air mass in 1952. AFP

Joseph Ratzinger, a professor of theology, with Cologne's Cardinal Joseph Frings, who took him to the council at the Vatican as an adviser in the early 1960s. AFP

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1977 in Vatican City. AFP

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger with Mother Teresa at the 85th German Catholics Days in Freiburg in September 1978. AFP

Archbishop of Munich and Freising Josef Ratzinger, right, bids farewell to Munich to become Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican. AFP

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1994 signing an autograph during the 1,240th anniversary of the city of Fulda, Germany. AFP

Cardinal Ratzinger, centre, his brother Georg, the Kapellmeister of the Cathedral of Regensburg, and their sister Maria Ratzinger in Munich. AFP

Cardinal Ratzinger, centre, arrives to lead the funeral mass for Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square at the Vatican City in 2005. AFP

Joseph Ratzinger, the new Pope Benedict XVI, after being elected the 265th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, April 19, 2005. AFP

Pope Benedict XVI on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals. AFP

Pope Benedict XVI at the traditional weekly general audience in St Peter's square at the Vatican, December 7, 2005. AFP

Pope Benedict XVI blesses the faithful in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, December 25, 2007. Reuters

Pope Benedict greets Abdul Aziz al-Ghurair, speaker of the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates, at the Vatican, October 22, 2008. Reuters

Pope Benedict is welcomed by Jordan's King Abdullah and his wife Queen Rania at Amman airport, May 8, 2009. Reuters

Pope Benedict in front of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City, May 12, 2009. Reuters

Pope Benedict and Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah during a private meeting at the Vatican, May 6, 2010. Reuters

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip with the Pope at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, September 16, 2010. Reuters

Pope Benedict arrives in Havana, Cuba, March 27, 2012. AFP

Pope Benedict XVI arrives for a meeting with youths at Bkerke in Harissa, near Beirut, September 15, 2012. Reuters

A mass held by Pope Benedict in Beirut, September 16, 2012. Reuters

On February 11, 2013, Pope Benedict announced that he would resign on February 28, the first pope in centuries to do so. AFP

The former pope arrives for the canonisation ceremony of popes John XXIII and John Paul II at the Vatican, April 27, 2014. Reuters

Emeritus Pope Benedict, left, as Pope Francis arrives to lead a mass to create 20 new cardinals, February 14, 2015. Reuters

Pope Francis, left, with Benedict at the Vatican, June 28, 2017. AFP

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at Munich Airport before his departure to Rome, June 22, 2020. Reuters

Former pope Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95, almost a decade after he stood down from the papacy.

After leading the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013, Benedict became the first pope in almost 600 years to relinquish his role.

Increasingly frail after resigning on health grounds, he continued to reside within the Vatican’s walls and was given the title of pope emeritus.

“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9.34am in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,” a spokesman said.

The Vatican said Benedict's body would lie in state from Monday in St Peter's Basilica and his funeral will be held on the morning of January 5.

Pope Francis will preside over the ceremony, which will take place in the square in front of the basilica.

The Vatican has elaborate rituals for what happens after a reigning pope dies but there are no publicly known ones for a former pope.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, said Benedict was leading figure of the 20th century.

“I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Benedict,” he said.

“He will be remembered as one of the great theologians of the 20th century.

“I remember with particular affection the remarkable papal visit to these lands in 2010. We saw his courtesy, his gentleness, the perceptiveness of his mind and the openness of his welcome to everybody that he met.”

Leaders were swift in sending their condolences for Benedict, who was the first German pope in 1,000 years.

“We mourn the death of our Bavarian Pope,” said Markus Soeder, premier of Benedict's home state.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Twitter that the world had lost “a formative figure of the Catholic Church”.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni hailed Benedict as “a great man who history will not forget”, while Polish President Andrzej Duda called him “one of the greatest theologians of the 20th and 21st centuries”.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak said: “I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

“He was a great theologian whose UK visit in 2010 was a historic moment for both Catholics and non-Catholics throughout our country.

“My thoughts are with Catholic people in the UK and around the world today.”

Pope Francis, right, greets Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, after a consistory to create 13 new cardinals, in November 2020 at the Vatican. AFP

King Charles III paid tribute to Benedict and recalled visiting him at the Vatican in 2009.

“Your Holiness, I received the news of the death of your predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, with deep sadness,” he said.

“I remember with fondness my meeting with His Holiness during my visit to the Vatican in 2009. His visit to the United Kingdom in 2010 was important in strengthening the relations between the Holy See and the United Kingdom.

“I also recall his constant efforts to promote peace and goodwill to all people, and to strengthen the relationship between the global Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said: “My thoughts go out to Catholics in France and around the world, bereaved by the departure of His Holiness Benedict XVI, who worked with soul and intelligence for a more fraternal world.”

Born Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict succeeded John Paul II in 2005.

Seen as a conservative, he became a standard-bearer for traditionalists who sometimes continued to look to him after Francis took over.

Benedict's papacy took place in the shadow of an evolving sexual abuse scandal that led to questions about what senior figures had known.

In February he asked for forgiveness from victims of historic abuse after a report criticised his failure to intervene when he was Archbishop of Munich.