him in the media, the news, photos, videos during his time as pope, a lot of peoplejust videos during his time as pope, a lot of people just noticed he was a fairly quiet, gentle man. he had an affection for cats, music. there are affection for cats, music. there are a lot of those human qualities that send out, because the figure of a pope is important and can be set apart from the rest of us, knowing he also had these human characteristics, together with his great intellect, i think really makes people feel an affection for him. it makes people feel an affection for him. , , , ., ., him. it is interesting you mentioned his gentleness. him. it is interesting you mentioned his gentleness, because him. it is interesting you mentioned his gentleness, because that - him. it is interesting you mentioned his gentleness, because that is - his gentleness, because that is something cardinal vincent nichols mentioned as well in the tribute that has just come through from him in the past few
on a personal level, benedict was by far the most shy, the most humble, the most, sort of, self deprecating, and gentlest of the three. i don t know that i have ever known a public figure where the disjunction between his public reputation. that is, as this draconian, authoritarian, aloof, darth vader esque figure, and the private man, that those of us who knew him personally, and knew him well, i have never known anybody for whom the distinction was quite as sharp as it was with benedict xvi, which is why, in many ways, for me, his legacy will be the legacy of a man who was tragically misunderstood. the world health organization says chinese officials must share more real time information on covid in the country as infections surge. many of the country s strict restrictions have been lifted over the last few weeks,
this is bbc news. welcome if you re watching here in the uk or around the globe. bells tolling the bells toll in st peter s square as the vatican announces the former pope, benedict xvi, has died at the age of 95 pope benedict led the catholic church for nearly eight years until, in 2013, he became the first pope in 600 years to resign. he was a kind, considerate, highly intelligent and sensitive man. and it was always a pleasure to be in his company even if issues that were difficult had to be talked about. this is the scene live in vatican city, where the former pope lived.
has been no precedent for a reigning pope to preside over the burial of his predecessor. it also, when you look back at the figure of pope benedict xvi when he was raining, he was the first pope in 600 years to resign. and that is always going to go down in history. that is probably the single event that marks his papacy. the single event that marks his -a -a . ~ the single event that marks his .aa. . the single event that marks his -aa- .~ ., ., , the single event that marks his papacy. we will come onto his legacy but first i papacy. we will come onto his legacy but first i want papacy. we will come onto his legacy but first i want to papacy. we will come onto his legacy but first i want to get papacy. we will come onto his legacy but first i want to get your but first i want to get your thoughts on him as a man. what are your personal recollections? he thoughts on him as a man. what are your personal recollections?- your personal recollections? he was a very gentle. your
they learned of the news of the death of the pope here in the square. she said that she and her boyfriend were quite bewildered, it was a surreal moment, it was a sense of an unprecedented historical moment. she said nothing has happened quite like this before. i think many people now have been gathering in the square to pray for pope benedict. this is a man with a complicated legacy. there will be many who mourn him, there will be others who remember that he presided over the church at the moment where it was beginning to confront the scandal of sexual abuse by priests around the world. and that is something that pope benedict, former pope benedict admitted that he had made mistakes in handling. so a mixed picture here in rome. the vatican has mixed picture here in rome. the vatican has said mixed picture here in rome. the vatican has said that the funeral will take place on the 5th of january and will be led by pope