On 31 December 2022, at 09:34 Central European Time (UTC+1), former Pope Benedict XVI died at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City at the age of 95.

[10] Later that day, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, attributed Benedict's illness to old age and reported that he was under medical supervision at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City, where he had lived since his resignation as pope.

[16] Benedict died at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery on 31 December 2022 at 9:34 a.m. Central European Time (UTC+01), at the age of 95, due to cardiogenic shock, resulting from respiratory failure that evolved from an insufficiency parenchymal.

[17][18] Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict's personal secretary and confidant, said that his last words, heard by a nurse, were "Signore ti amo" (Italian for 'Lord, I love you').

[29] Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said the mass had been adapted from the usual papal burial service, omitting portions applicable to the death of a current pope, and adding other parts.

[32] Pope Francis, Benedict's successor, presided over the service, which was conducted primarily in Latin with prayers and readings also in Italian, Spanish, English, French, Portuguese and Arabic.

[33] The Sistine Chapel Choir sang at the service, and Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, celebrated the Eucharist at the altar set up in the Square.

[37] Francis delivered a short homily during the Mass that focused on the reading from the Gospel, mentioning Benedict briefly such as to praise his "wisdom, tenderness and devotion that he bestowed upon us over the years".

[38][39] Immediately after the funeral, Benedict was interred in a private ceremony in the crypt underneath St. Peter's Basilica, in the same tomb that had previously been occupied by Pope John Paul II's body from his death in 2005 until his beatification in 2011.

[41] In keeping with Benedict's request for a simple funeral, only the governments of Italy and his native Germany were invited to send official delegations,[42] although representatives from other countries and organisations were able to participate "in a private capacity".