Ines de La Cuetara - ABC News - January 2, 2023 - KRDO’s Morning News

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away at the age of 95 on Saturday. Benedict’s body will lie in state in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican from Monday through Wednesday, and his funeral is scheduled for Thursday at 9:30 a.m. local time in St. Peter's Square. It will be presided over by Pope Francis, the Vatican press office said. Born in Germany in 1927 as Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict was elected Pope in 2005 and stepped down nearly eight years later, in 2013. As Pope, he reiterated the Church's traditional conservative positions on important doctrinal issues like abortion, contraception, homosexuality, euthanasia and the priesthood, and dealt with a number of scandals, including a growing number of sexual abuse cases involving the clergy.