Pope Francis prays for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at New Year's Day mass

Pope Francis prayed for his predecessor's passage to heaven as he presided over a special New Year's Day Mass Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died in retirement at the Vatican on Saturday aged 95. He headed the Roman Catholic Chruch from 2005 to 2013 before announcing a shock retirement.

He became the first pontiff in 600 years to resign.

At the age of 78 he was thrust into following the footsteps of the beloved Pope John Paul II and running the 1 billion-strong Catholic Church through scandal and indifference.

Benedict ran the church for nearly eight years through the fallout of the clerical sex abuse scandal, and then a second scandal that erupted when his own butler stole his personal papers and gave them to a journalist.

(with AP inputs)

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