Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, allegedly died at the age of 95, as reported by the president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, in a message posted on his alleged Twitter account, BischofBatzing.
At the moment the Vatican has not confirmed this information, and the aforementioned Twitter account has been deleted, so the news should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Since August 2020, German media have claimed that Pope Benedict XVI was seriously ill, after having gone to Germany to visit his brother.
In fact, shortly after Benedict’s arrival, his brother passed away. According to the media, the religious figure returned from the trip with a facial disease called Erispela Facial, a condition with symptoms like swelling, skin turning red, and generating a lot of itching and pain.
Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger assumed the papacy on April 19, 2005, shortly after the death of John Paul II, and his resignation from office occurred on February 28, 2013.
Who was Benedict XVI?
Joseph Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, Germany, on April 16, 1927, into a farming family and spent his adolescence in Traunstein, a small town near the Austrian border, about 18 miles from Salzburg.
He was sent to World War II in the auxiliary anti-aircraft services.
Ratzinger was accused of covering up “sexual abuse
It is worth mentioning that several media outlets pointed him out for covering up sexual abuse against minors” when he was archbishop.
Chaplain Peter H. was transferred in 1980 from the bishopric of Essen to that of Munich-Freising after having abused several minors; Upon learning of the accusations, his superiors, including Joseph Ratzinger, did not clarify them but instead asked him to attend psychological therapy.
The then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in his capacity as Archbishop of Munich-Freising, was aware that the chaplain had committed abuses, but still approved his transfer and did not report the case to the Vatican, as his obligation would have been, according to an extrajudicial decree. of the Ecclesiastical Court of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising from 2016.