Pope Francis and world leaders pay tribute to Benedict XVI

Pope Francis has led tributes to his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who has died, aged 95.

Benedict had been “noble” and “kind” – and “gifted” to the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope said.

US President Joe Biden and King Charles III are among dozens of leaders to praise the former pontiff.

Benedict resigned in 2013 because of poor health – the first pope to do so in 600 years. His funeral service will be held at the Vatican on 5 January.

Hours after the announcement of his death, Pope Francis praised his “dearest” predecessor, emphasising “his sacrifices offered for the good of the Church”.

In the US, the White House released a statement from President Biden – who is only the second Catholic after John F Kennedy to hold the nation’s highest office.

Recalling spending time with Benedict at the Vatican in 2011, the president said that he would “be remembered as a renowned theologian, with a lifetime of devotion to the Church, guided by his principles and faith”.

In the UK, the new monarch King Charles III said that he received news of the former Pope’s death with “deep sadness”.

Sending a message of condolence to Pope Francis he highlighted Benedict’s “constant efforts to promote peace and goodwill to all people” and his actions to strengthen bonds between Catholics and Anglicans.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called Benedict XVI “a great theologian whose UK visit in 2010 was an historic moment for both Catholics and non-Catholics throughout our country”.

The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, said Benedict transformed his image in the UK when he visited.

Talking to the BBC, the cardinal said he arrived with a reputation of being “God’s Rottweiler”, but left being compared to “everybody’s favourite great-uncle or just uncle”.

Leaders of countries with large Catholic populations have also been paying tribute.

In Italy, the new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Benedict a “giant of faith and reason” and “a great man whom history will not forget” while Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar described the former pope as “humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord”.

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the late pope as “a formative figure of the Catholic Church, a forthright personality and a clever theologian”.

Benedict was born in Bavaria as Joseph Ratzinger and in 1977 was appointed archbishop of Munich.

Reaction to his death in the city was varied – with one resident describing him as “conservative”, whilst taking pride from the fact that he was German.

Another was more critical.

“I thought when he came to power he would finally bring some fresh air into the Catholic Church and bring an end to celibacy. But unfortunately, he disappointed me,” Christa Herwig told Reuters news agency.

A German probe into child sex abuse that has rocked the Catholic Church found in January that he had failed to act over four such cases when he was archbishop of Munich.

Benedict always denied the accusations.

With the death of Pope Benedict XI the Catholic world has lost an unrivalled receptacle of theological knowledge, intellectualism and lived experience.

While little has changed in terms of doctrinal discussion at the Vatican in the nearly 10 years since he stepped down, what has changed is the spirit of the papacy.

Pope Francis is widely regarded to have had a more pastoral approach and his appointments of cardinals show a clear shift towards Asia and Latin America.

In recent years, though he has not appeared to court it, the Pope Emeritus became something of a lightning rod for some opposed to the new Pope.

There had been speculation that Pope Francis, who himself has been suffering ill health, had been contemplating stepping down, but was reluctant to do so if it meant there would be three popes in Rome.

It was not quite “The Two Popes”, but in spite of their differences, there was by all accounts immense respect shown between predecessor and successor. We are likely to hear about that in the coming days and particularly in Pope Francis’s homily at the funeral on Thursday.