Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Pope Francis's predecessor and the first Catholic pope to resign from the office in 600 years, died this morning at age 95.

Benedict's funeral Mass will be held in St. Peter's Square on Thursday, an unprecedented event in which a current pope will honor the life and death of a former pope.

Here is the statement from the Vatican spokesman:

"With sorrow I inform you that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesia Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be released as soon as possible."

Benedict recently released this statement about impending death:

Here is a brief biography of the late pope, courtesy of ChatGPT:

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, [was] a retired prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Pope from 2005 until his resignation in 2013, becoming the first pope to do so since Gregory XII in 1415. Prior to his papacy, Ratzinger served as a cardinal, archbishop, and prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He is known for his conservative stance on social and theological issues and his efforts to defend traditional Catholic teachings.

Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany, and was ordained as a priest in 1951. He later earned a doctorate in theology and held academic positions before being appointed as a bishop in 1977. In 1981, he was appointed as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a position he held until his election as Pope in 2005.

During his papacy, Benedict XVI faced a number of challenges, including the sexual abuse scandal within the Church and tensions with the Islamic world. Despite these challenges, he made efforts to reach out to other religions and promote interfaith dialogue. In his later years, Pope Emeritus Benedict continued to write and speak on issues of faith and culture.