Pope emeritus dies at 95: the life of Benedict XVI, in photos

The pope emeritus, Benedict XVI, died this Saturday at the age of 95. This has been confirmed by the Vatican, reporting “with regret” that he passed away at 9:34 a.m., and that as of Monday, January 2, his body will be in St. Peter’s Basilica to be fired by the faithful. .

Everything happens after a few days ago the Pope Francisco requested from the Vatican a “special prayer” for the 265th Pope of the Catholic Church and seventh sovereign of Vatican City.

In recent years, the German pontiff Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger minimized his public agenda. According to his environment, despite the natural ailments linked to his advanced age, Benedict XVI retained full intellectual lucidity. However, in the past two years his health has drastically worsened. In addition to the problems articulating words, he could not move independently and required a wheelchair at all times.

It has been several years since the emeritus pope did not participate in public events and there are no recent video images, but the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation published photos of the few visits it receives. One of the latest snapshots is from November 4 when he received the Russian painter, Natalia Tsarkova, at the Mater Ecclesiae convent, where he had resided since he resigned from the pontificate in 2013, who portrayed him together with her brother, Georg already deceased, and to the people who care for you today. His longevity as pope emeritus, more than nine and a half years, exceeded the duration of his pontificate.

Benedict’s health problems were never made official, although his biographer Peter Seewald has explained on several occasions that he could have suffered erysipelas (a bacterial skin infection) and Herpes zoster (a vesicant – blistering – and painful skin rash).

A life in pictures

Through a series of snapshots, we recall the life and pontificate of Benedict XVI, who for some has gone down in history as a preserver of the legacy of John Paul IIand as the most revolutionary of conservatives for others.

Benedict XVI with his parents, Joseph and Maria, and his siblings, Georg and Maria, in 1951. The five posed after the ordination as priests of the two male brothers.

toasting with beer. He posed beer in hand on several occasions. He did so after presenting his memoirs in 1998 when he was a cardinal (first image below). In the second photograph, he appears celebrating his 90th birthday when he was already Pope emeritus. In the United States, they even created a beer in his honor under the name of Beer-nedict XVI: Pint-ifex Maximus.

Three weeks after the death of John Paul II, Benedict XVI, who celebrated his funeral mass, became the new Pope. On April 19, 2005, he was elected the new pontiff (first image below) and on Sunday, April 24, the coronation mass was celebrated (second image below, in which King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía also appear).

Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger celebrated his last general audience (first image below) on February 27, 2013 and a day later he waved for the last time from the balcony of his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo (second image below).

Sound repercussion had his meeting with Fidel Castro in Havana on March 28, 2012.

Pope Francis, elected new pontiff on March 13, 2014, with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. This meeting was held in the Vatican on June 30, 2015.

Benedict XVI already in a wheelchair in June 2020 at the Munich airport.

In December of this same year, 2022, his deteriorating state of health was already even more evident. The image below belongs to the reception of the Ratzinger Prize winners in the Vatican.