Vatican

The pontificate of Benedict XVI leaves as a mark the unusual depth of a Christian faith that evangelizes by seeking dialogue with the modern world.

The Pope Emeritus died at 9:34 a.m. this morning at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican, after a life of unwavering service to the Church. He was 95 years old. An eminent professor and preeminent theologian, he surprised the world with his resignation from the papacy in February 2013.

The destiny of the one who was to lead the Church under the name of Benedict XVI had become clear on the day of his predecessor's funeral when he delivered that moving homily that began with the word "Follow me".

His intellectual gifts always stood out: in his eighteen years as a university professor, in his brief stint as Archbishop of Munich, in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and, finally, in his ministry as Pope of the Holy See.

The Holy Father Francis asked this morning, at the end of the Wednesday audience, for a special prayer for Benedict XVI, "who in silence is sustaining the Church" and "is very ill". The Holy See adds that there has been "a worsening" of his state of health.