The former Pope Benedict XVI passed away at age 95 in his residence at the Vatican.
This comes nearly ten years after stepping down due to declining health, Reportminds Blog has learnt.
After less than eight years in office, he resigned as Pope in 2013, becoming the first pope to do so since Gregory XII in 1415.
At the Mater Ecclesiae monastery inside the Vatican's walls, Benedict spent his final years. Pope Francis, who succeeded him, claimed to have frequently visited him there.
The Holy See claimed that although the former pontiff had been ill for some time, his condition had gotten worse as he aged.
Pope Francis requested that his final audience of the year on Wednesday at the Vatican "pray a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict," who he claimed was in critical condition.
Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, Benedict became one of the oldest popes ever elected when he was 78 years old in 2005.
During a large portion of his pontificate, the Catholic Church was the subject of accusations, legal actions, and official reports into decades of priestly child abuse.
The former Pope admitted earlier this year that mistakes had been made in the handling of abuse cases while he served as the archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982.
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