Pope Benedict XVI Obituary, Funeral

Pope Benedict XVI is a retired prelate of the Catholic Church, who served as the head of the church and the sovereign of the Vatican City State from April 19, 2005, until his resignation on February 28, 2013.

Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Pope Benedict XVI embarked on an academic career and established himself as a highly regarded theologian by the late 1950s. He was appointed a full professor in 1958 at the age of 31.

On September 4, 2020, Pope Benedict XVI became the longest-lived person to have held the office of pope, at 93 years, 4 months, 16 days, surpassing Leo XIII, who died in 1903. Benedict is the last surviving individual to have been created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.

He died on December 31, 2022, at the age of 95.