Pope Emeritus To Mark 91st Birthday

Pope-Benedict (Photo Credit: NAN)

The Vatican’s official news site has said Pope Benedict XVI Emeritus will spend his 91st birthday in “quiet and peace,’’

Pope Benedict XVI Emeritus was due to celebrate his special day with his brother, 94-year-old brother Georg Ratzinger in the Vatican monastery where he has retired, his Secretary Archbishop Georg Gaenswein said.

He was born in Bavaria, Southern Germany as Joseph Ratzinger. He became the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years in 2013, citing the strains of old age. He headed over to Pope Francis.

Since then, he has lived a life of prayer inside the Vatican gardens and rarely ventured out, staying true to a promise to remain “hidden to the world.”

He hinted that he was preparing to meet his maker in his letter to Italian daily Corriere della Sera, “As my physical strength slowly fades, I am on an interior pilgrimage towards home.” (dpa/NAN)