VATICAN CITY, Dec 31 - Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday (Dec 31) aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign, leaving behind a Catholic Church battered by sexual abuse scandals, mired in mismanagement and polarised between conservatives and progressives. Benedict, the first German pope in 1,000 years, had good relations with his successor, Pope Francis,.
Benedict stunned the world on February 11, 2013 when he announced in soft-spoken Latin that he no longer had the strength to run the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church he had steered for eight years
For all his efforts to control or suppress theological inquiry, Pope Benedict's success remains questionable. During his 24 years as head of the CDF and his eight years as pope, theology actually thrived.
Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign, leaving behind a Catholic Church battered by sexual abuse scandals, mired in mismanagement and polarised between conservatives and progressives.
ROME: Former pope Benedict, the first pontiff in 600 years to resign, has died at the age of 95 in the Vatican, a spokesman for the Holy See said on Saturday.