"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. Further information will be provided as soon as possible," Vatican News tweeted.
Pope Francis had on May 29 announced 21 new Cardinals with Archbishop Anthony being one among them. The Pope him as a Cardinal in a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City at 7:30 pm IST.
In the Lombardy region of Italy, where the pandemic first erupted in the West, a hospital gave a traditional dove-shaped Easter cake symbolising peace to each person waiting to get vaccinated.