Benedict Xvi

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People line up to enter Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican where late Pope Benedict XVI is being laid in state at The Vatican, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. Benedict XVI, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died, the Vatican announced Saturday. He was 95. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Tens of thousands view Benedict XVI’s body at Vatican

By Giada Zampano and Frances D'Emilio - Associated Press

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, right, hugs Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica during the ceremony marking the start of the Holy Year, at the Vatican, on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015. Pope Benedict XVIs 2013 resignation sparked calls for rules and regulations for future retired popes to avoid the kind of confusion that ensued. Benedict, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died, the Vatican announced Saturday Dec. 31, 2022. He was 95. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Benedict XVI, first Roman Catholic pope to resign in 600 years, dies days after illness disclosed

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, center, meets with the winners of the 2022 Ratzinger Prize, Joseph Halevi Horowitz Weiler, left, and father Michel Fedou, at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery inside the Vatican where Benedict XVI lives, in this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. (Fondazione Vaticana J.Ratzinger via AP)

Benedict ‘stable’ as special Mass for ailing retired pontiff planned in Rome

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to attend the beatification ceremony of Pope Paul VI, on Oct. 19, 2014. Pope Francis on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, said his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, is “very sick," and he asked the faithful to pray for the retired pontiff so God will comfort him “to the very end.” (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) **FILE**

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI ‘very sick,’ Pope Francis asks for ‘special prayers’

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

Pope Francis givers his thumbs up as he leaves after the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope denies resignation rumors, hopes to visit Kyiv, Moscow

Associated Press

Pope Francis waves during the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, June 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Papal resignation rumors swirl in Rome as Francis endures health issues

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

Pope Francis appears on a balcony of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, July 11, 2021, where he is recovering from intestinal surgery, for the traditional Sunday blessing and Angelus prayer. Pope Francis is 84 and had a part of his colon removed a week ago. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope’s first public appearance closely scrutinized after surgery

By David R. Sands - The Washington Times

FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014 file photo, Pope Francis, right, hugs Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI prior to the start of a meeting with elderly faithful in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has marked the eighth anniversary of his historic resignation by insisting in an interview published in Corriere della Sera Monday, March 1, 2021, that he stepped down knowingly and that “there is only one pope” _ Francis. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Pope Benedict XVI defends resignation to ‘fanatic’ doubters

Associated Press

FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007 file photo, Pope Benedict XVI, center left, applauds, as his brother, Georg, right, looks on, during a concert by the German Symphonic Orchestra Bayerischer Rundfunk and the Bamberger Symphoniker, at the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. The Rev. Georg Ratzinger, the older brother of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, who earned renown in his own right as a director of an acclaimed German boys’ choir, has died at age 96. The Regensburg diocese in Bavaria, where Ratzinger lived, said in a statement on his website that he died on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

Funeral planned Wednesday for retired pope’s elder brother

Associated Press

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI is wheeled in his wheelchair as he visits the grave of his parents and sister at the Ziegetsdorf cemetery near Regensburg, Germany, Saturday, June 20, 2020. The Vatican says Emeritus Pope Benedict is in Germany to be with his brother, who is in poor health. Benedict on Thursday arrived in Regensburg, Germany, where his brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, lives, and where “he will spend the necessary time,” the Vatican said in a statement. (Armin Weigel/dpa via AP)

Retired pope visits former home, parents’ grave in Germany

By DAVID McHUGH - Associated Press

FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2006 file picture Pope Benedict XVI, right, walks with his brother priest Georg Ratzinger in Regensburg, southern Germany. The Vatican says Emeritus Pope Benedict is in Germany to be with his brother, who is in poor health. Benedict on Thursday arrived in Regensburg, Germany, where his brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, lives, and where “he will spend the necessary time,” the Vatican said in a statement. (AP Photo/Diether Endlicher,File)

Emeritus Pope Benedict in Germany to be with ailing brother

By FRANCES D'EMILIO and GEIR MOULSON - Associated Press

In this June 28, 2017, file photo, Pope Francis, left, and Pope Benedict XVI, meet each other on the occasion of the elevation of five new cardinals at the Vatican. Retired Pope Benedict XVI has broken his silence to reaffirm the value of priestly celibacy, co-authoring a bombshell book at the precise moment that Pope Francis is weighing whether to allow married men to be ordained to address the Catholic priest shortage. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool photo via AP, File) **FILE**

Pope Benedict links gay marriage, ‘Anti-Christ’

By Christopher Vondracek - The Washington Times

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (right) has broken his silence to reaffirm the value of priestly celibacy, co-authoring a book at the moment that Pope Francis is weighing whether to allow married men to be ordained to address the Catholic priest shortage. (Associated Press)

Publisher vows to keep former Pope Benedict’s name on book

By Christopher Vondracek - The Washington Times

Retired Pope Benedict XVI (left) has broken his silence to reaffirm the value of priestly celibacy, co-authoring a bombshell book at the precise moment that Pope Francis is weighing whether to allow married men to be ordained to address the Catholic priest shortage. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Pope Benedict XVI reaffirms priestly celibacy value in book

By Nicole Winfield - Associated Press

FILE - This Oct. 19, 2014 file photo shows Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to attend the beatification ceremony of Pope Paul VI, and a mass for the closing of a two-week synod on family issues, celebrated by Pope Francis. Retired Pope Benedict XVI has published an analysis of the origins of the clergy sex abuse scandal, blaming it on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and church laws that protected priests in a rare commentary, published Thursday April 11, 2019.(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, FILE)

Retired Pope Benedict wades into clergy sex abuse debate

By BY NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press