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'Giant of faith': Tributes for ex-pope Benedict XVIGermany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed the former German pontiff as a 'special church leader'
AFP
Last Updated IST
Pope Benedict XVI. Credit: AP/PTI file photo
Pope Benedict XVI. Credit: AP/PTI file photo

Remembrances have poured in after former pope Benedict XVI died aged 95 on Saturday, almost a decade after he became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries.

Here are some of the tributes:

France's President Emmanuel Macron said the ex-pope "strove with soul and intelligence for a more brotherly world".

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Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed the former German pontiff as a "special church leader" who helped shape the Catholic church.

"The world has lost a formative figure of the Catholic Church, an argumentative personality and a clever theologian," he said.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hailed the former leader of the Catholic Church as a "giant of faith and reason".

She described him as "a Christian, a pastor, a theologian, a great figure in history, that history will never forget".

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki bid farewell to "one of the greatest theologians of our time".

"Throughout his life, he showed the spiritual and intellectual depth of Christianity. He leaves behind a great legacy," he said.

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

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(Published 31 December 2022, 16:54 IST)