The German-born conservative was the first pontiff in nearly 600 years to resign
Pope Benedict XVI, the German-born theologian who stunned the Roman Catholic Church by resigning in 2013 after eight years leading the church, died Saturday morning at age 95, the Vatican announced.
His dramatic decision paved the way for the elevation of the Argentine-born Pope Francis, who is due to preside over Benedict’s funeral mass on Thursday.
The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was an intellectual leader of the conservative wing of Catholicism, a defender of traditional orthodoxy on issues like the church’s opposition to contraception, homosexuality and married priests.
