Benedict stunned the Catholic faithful and religious experts in 2013 when he stepped down from his position as Pope, citing his 'advanced age.'
Benedict XVI, the Pope Emeritus, has died in Vatican City at the age of 95 following a period of ill health.
"I want to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict who sustains the Church in his silence. He is very sick. We ask the Lord to console and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church to the very end," Francis said at his general audience on Wednesday. In typical fashion, Benedict announced his unexpected resignation in Latin. He was 85 at the time and cited his advanced age as ill-suited for the demands of running the Catholic Church.
Benedict's lasting mark on papacy will be his resignation If ever there was a moment that embodied the surreal novelty created by the first papal resignation in 600 years, it came on the morning of March 23, 2013: Newly elected Pope Francis had traveled to the papal summer retreat south of Rome and was greeted on the helipad by the previous pope, Benedict XVI, who had moved there three weeks earlier.