Former pope Benedict XVI is dead. He was 95.

POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the Vatican announced pope Benedict’s demise on Saturday.

“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible,” the spokesman said in a written statement.

Although the former pontiff had been ill for some time, the Holy See said there had been an aggravation in his condition because of advancing age.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis appealed to his final audience of the year at the Vatican to “pray a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict”, whom he said was very ill.

Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, Benedict was 78 when in 2005 he became one of the oldest popes ever elected.

In 2013, pope Benedict became the first pontiff to resign as head of the Catholic Church since the Middle Ages.

The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.