• The pope emeritus who announced his resignation in 2013, Benedict XVI, died this Saturday at the age of 95.

  • His health had seriously deteriorated in recent days.

  • A look back at his eight years spent at the Vatican, before giving up, already for health reasons.

He was pope for less than a decade.

A very short time to occupy the supreme seat of head of the Catholic Church.

Benedict XVI, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger of his real name, died this Saturday at the age of 95.

His condition had worsened in recent months, when he had already had to renounce his status as pope in 2013 for health reasons.

He had since lived in a monastery located in the heart of the Vatican gardens.

A look back at his life, from the Hitler Youth to the scandals linked to pedocrime in the Church.

Forced Hitler Youth

Born in 1927 in Germany, Joseph Ratzinger was born into a family opposed to Nazism but was forcibly conscripted into the Hitler Youth at the age of 14, says Rue 89 in 2009. Four years later, in 1945, he begins his training as a priest after refusing to join the Waffen-SS.

Subsequently, he taught theology for 25 years in Germany before being appointed Archbishop of Munich.

He then became the strict guardian of the dogma of the Church for another quarter of a century in Rome at the head of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, the former Holy Office, then pope for eight years (2005-2013 ), succeeding John Paul II.

Child crime scandal and “Vatileaks”

Elected pope in 2005, his ontificate lasted eight years and was marked by multiple crises.

This brilliant German theologian was overtaken by the scandals of pedocrime in the Church.

Questioned by a report in Germany on his management of sexual violence when he was Archbishop of Munich, he broke his silence to ask for "pardon" but assured that he had never covered up a child criminal.

As head of the Catholic Church, he defended a conservative line, notably on abortion, homosexuality or euthanasia.

His statements have sometimes created misunderstanding, such as on Islam, the use of condoms against HIV or the excommunication of four fundamentalist bishops in 2009.

His pontificate was also marked in 2012 by the leak of confidential documents (“Vatileaks”) orchestrated by his personal butler.

The scandal had exposed a Roman Curia (Vatican government) plagued by intrigue and devoid of financial rigor.

His renunciation, a first for 700 years

His renunciation, announced in Latin on February 11, 2013, was a personal decision linked to his declining strength and not to the pressure of scandals, had assured the former pope, uncomfortable with crowds, in a book of confidences published in 2016. With this gesture, unprecedented in 700 years, the first German pope in modern history paved the way for his successors whose strength would come to decline.

François, 86 years old and suffering from knee pain, left this possibility “open” himself.

Our dossier on Benedict XVI

Speaking with difficulty, Benedict XVI has appeared increasingly fragile in recent months, moving around in a wheelchair.

But he continued in recent weeks to receive visitors, some photos on social networks showing a frail and visibly weakened man.

The latest video of Benedict XVI, released by the Vatican in August on the occasion of the traditional visit of new cardinals, showed a weakened and emaciated man, equipped with a hearing aid, no longer able to speak but still looking bright.

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