Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 12:12 pm
The last words of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as he lay on his deathbed were “Lord, I love you!” according to the late pope’s longtime personal secretary Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Vatican News reported.
At about 3 a.m. on Dec. 31, a few hours before he died, Benedict was alone with a nurse who did not speak German, Vatican News reported. At that time Gänswein and others who were taking turns staying with the pope emeritus had left the room for a moment.
Gänswein recounted that Benedict XVI “in a soft but clearly distinguishable voice said in Italian, ‘Lord, I love you!’”
Gänswein said: “I was not there at the time, but the nurse told me shortly afterwards. Those were his last comprehensible words because after that he was no longer able to express himself."