On 31 December 2022, at 09:34 Central European Time (UTC+1), Pope Benedict XVI died at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City at the age of 95. He had been pope emeritus since his resignation as the leader of the Catholic Church in 2013 due to ill health. His death ended a nine-year period during which an incumbent pope and a retired pope both lived within Vatican City.
Benedict's body lay in state in St. Peter's Basilica from 2 to 4 January 2023, during which around 195,000 mourners paid their respects. His funeral, presided over by Pope Francis, took place in St. Peter's Square on 5 January, and was attended by around 50,000 people.
Background
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was elected Pope Benedict XVI on 19 April 2005, succeeding John Paul II, who died on 2 April 2005. He stepped down as pope at 20:00 (CET) on 28 February 2013, in the first papal renunciation in almost 600 years since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to voluntarily step down since Pope Celestine V in 1294. He cited his declining health as the reason for his resignation.
In October 2017, a photograph on Facebook showed Benedict with a black eye. He had developed a hematoma after slipping at his residence. Speculation about his health had arisen in the preceding weeks.
In June 2020, Benedict visited his ailing brother Georg Ratzinger in Bavaria, who died shortly after the visit on 1 July.
On 3 August 2020, after speculation in the German press in the wake of a visit by the journalist Peter Seewald on 1 August, Benedict's aides disclosed that he was experiencing inflammation of the trigeminal nerve, but stated that his condition was not serious. Maltese cardinal Mario Grech reported to Vatican News on 2 December 2020 that Benedict was enduring serious difficulties in speaking, reportedly stating to a group of cardinals that "the Lord has taken away my speech in order to let me appreciate silence".
Benedict became the longest-lived pope on 4 September 2020, surpassing Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903 at the age of 93 years, 4 months and 3 days.
Last days
In his weekly general audience on 28 December 2022, Pope Francis announced that Benedict was "very sick". Francis did not disclose the exact nature of his ailment, but called for people to pray for Benedict. Later that day, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, attributed Benedict's illness to old age and reported that he was under medical supervision at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City, where he had lived since his resignation as pope. Francis visited Benedict after the audience, and Benedict received the Anointing of the Sick.
On 29 December, Bruni reported that Benedict's situation remained grave, but he was "absolutely lucid and alert". The next day, Benedict participated in the celebration of mass in his room; his condition was stable. The same day, a special mass was celebrated for Benedict at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.
Death
Benedict died at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery on 31 December 2022 at 9:34 a.m. Central European Time (UTC+01), at the age of 95. Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict's personal secretary and confidant, said that his last words, heard by a nurse, were . On the same day, the Holy See released his spiritual testament, dated 29 August 2006.
On the same day, Pope Francis gave his first words about Benedict since his death, praising him.
Funeral
At the time of Benedict's death, the Holy See had procedures governing the rituals surrounding papal deaths and funerals, but which were designed specifically for the deaths of incumbent popes.
On 1 January 2023, Benedict's body was laid in the chapel at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, where it was viewed by people closest to him. He was clothed in red vestments, the traditional liturgical colour for papal funerals. Since Benedict was no longer pope, he did not wear the pallium or hold the ferula, symbols of the papal office. In the morning of 2 January, Benedict's body was moved to St. Peter's Basilica, where he lay in state for three days until his funeral. The Holy See stated that approximately 195,000 people paid their respects during the lying in state. On the evening of 4 January, Benedict's face was covered with a white veil. His pallium, coins and medals minted during his reign, and a ; a text summarizing his life and pontificate) were placed in his coffin before it was closed.