THE VATICAN, December 31. /TASS/. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has passed away at the age of 95, Director of the Holy See Press Office Matteo Bruni said on Saturday.

"With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today," he said. Beginning on Monday morning, January 2, "the body of the Pope Emeritus will be in Saint Peter's Basilica so the faithful can bid farewell," according to the spokesman.

As reported earlier, the health of the Pope Emeritus had worsened and Pope Francis publicly asked to pray for him. On December 28, he visited his predecessor in a former monastery in the Vatican where the Pope Emeritus resided following his resignation.

The funeral ritual has not yet been defined since there was no precedent of burying a Pope Emeritus. According to the Repubblica newspaper, Pope Francis may conduct a funeral service, the farewell may last several days and the funeral will be attended by spiritual and political leaders.

A source in the Vatican told a TASS correspondent that the funeral ritual will be the same as for a sitting Pope since technically Benedict is "the head of state".