Tributes paid to 'God's rottweiler' who died at 95

TRIBUTES flooded in yesterday after the death of former Pope Benedict XVI- the churchman known as "God's rottweiler".

- SASKIA ROWLANDS

Benedict, 95, led the world's 1.3 billion Catholics from 2005 until 2013, when he became the first pontiff in 600 years to resign.

His death came days after Pope Francis announced his predecessor was "very sick".

The Vatican's spokesman, Matteo Bruni, announced Benedict's death.

He said: "With pain, I inform that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.

His body will be on display in St Peter's Basilica, Rome, from tomorrow. A "simple" funeral will be held on Thursday in keeping with the Pope's wishes.

VALUES

Benedict, who grew up in Nazi Germany, succeeded Pope John Paul II. He got his "rottweiler" nickname as a Vatican enforcer a cardinal with uncompromising views.

He strongly believed in family values and opposed abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia.

The role also involved overseeing probes into sex abuse by priests. In 2022, he acknowledged errors in the handling of cases when he was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982.

In 2012, while he was serving as the 265th Pope, the Catholic Church faced the Vatican Leaks scandal allegations of corruption - and claims that child abuse had been covered up.