Former Pope Benedict XVI has died at his Vatican residence, aged 95, it was announced on Saturday. His death came almost 10 years after he stood down from the role because of poor health in a move which made him the first Pope to resign since 1415.
Before that moment in 2013 he had led the Catholic Church for less than eight years and spent his remaining years at a monastery within the walls of the Vatican. Successor Pope Francis said he had visited him there frequently and earlier this week asked for people to say prayers for the ailing former Pope.
Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, Benedict was 78 when in 2005 he became one of the oldest popes ever elected. For much of his papacy the Catholic Church faced allegations, legal claims, and official reports into decades of child abuse by priests. Earlier this year the former Pope acknowledged that errors had been made in the handling of abuse cases while he was archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982.
