Former Pope Benedict XVI has died, aged 95, nearly a decade after he stood down due to ailing well being.
He led the Catholic Church for fewer than eight years till, in 2013, he turned the primary Pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.
Benedict spent his closing years on the Mater Ecclesiae monastery inside the partitions of the Vatican the place he handed away at 09:34 (08:34 GMT) on Saturday.
His successor Pope Francis will lead the funeral on 5 January.
The Vatican stated the physique of the Pope Emeritus might be positioned in St Peter’s Basilica from 2 January for “the greeting of the trustworthy”.
Bells rang out from Munich cathedral and a single bell was heard ringing from St Peter’s Sq. in Rome after the previous pope’s demise was introduced.