Pope Francis pays tribute to his “noble” predecessor

Pope Benedict XVI, the first to leave office in some seven hundred years, died on Saturday December 31, 2022. He was 95 years old. His successor, Pope Francis, had been calling for prayer for several days, in view of the ” deterioration ” of the health of the pope emeritus. After the announcement of the death of Benedict XVI, Francis paid homage to him during a mass celebrated in Saint-Pierre Cathedral.

Pope Francis, from the Vatican, has called on fellow believers to remember “with emotion (…) of [la] person so noble, so good” of his predecessor. He also mentioned his ” gratitude ” to ” everything that [Benoît XVI] had accomplished”.