The 95-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who occupied the Holy See in 2005-2013, passed away on Saturday morning in his residence at the Vatican's Mater Ecclesiae Monastery.

"With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 09:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible. As of Monday morning, January 2, 2023, the body of the Pope Emeritus will be in Saint Peter's Basilica so the faithful can pay their respects," the Holy See press office said.

"Already for several days, the health conditions of the Pope Emeritus had worsened due to advancing age, as the press office had reported in its updates of the evolving situation. Pope Francis himself publicly shared the news about his predecessor's worsening health at the end of the last General Audience of the year, on December 28," the report says.