Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's square at the Vatican, on April 21, 2010.
Former Pope Benedict XVI, who was born in the Weimar Republic, has died aged 95.
Pope Francis, who replaced him as head of the Catholic Church and thus made the former Pope become the first pontiff to resign in some 600 years, had asked the faithful to pray for him at the end of his general audience on Wednesday morning.
The Vatican said Benedict's body will lie in state in St Peter's Basilica from Monday.
"With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican," a spokesperson said.
"As of Monday morning, 2 January 2023, the body of the Pope Emeritus will be in Saint Peter's Basilica so the faithful can bid farewell."
The health of the Pope Emeritus, as Benedict was called after he stepped down, had undergone a "worsening in the last hours" due to his age, the Vatican said, and doctors were constantly monitoring his condition.
Francis had gone to visit Benedict at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City after the audience.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, said Benedict was "one of the great theologians of the 20th century".
He said: "I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Benedict. He will be remembered as one of the great theologians of the 20th century.
"I remember with particular affection the remarkable Papal Visit to these lands in 2010. We saw his courtesy, his gentleness, the perceptiveness of his mind and the openness of his welcome to everybody that he met."
"He was through and through a gentleman, through and through a scholar, through and through a pastor, through and through a man of God - close to the Lord and always his humble servant.
"Pope Benedict is very much in my heart and in my prayers. I give thanks to God for his ministry and leadership."
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