Last Words of Pope Benedict XVI Have Been Recorded …..

The last words of Pope Benedict XVI have been recorded. His bedside nurse was the person who heard him say his last words. 

Archbishop Georg Ganswein, Benedict's personal secretary, told Vatican News, "With just a whisper of a voice, but in a clearly distinguishable manner, [Benedict] said in Italian, 'Lord, I love you!'

Mr Ganswein added, “These were his last comprehensible words because afterwards, he was no longer able to express himself.”

Thousands of people are paying their homage to Pope Benedict XVI in his lying state in the Vatican; some of them lining up before dawn. 

The Pope passed away on New Year’s Eve at the age of 95. He was 78 when he became pope in 2005. He was the first pope in six hundred years to resign in 2013 due to his declining health. 

Pope Benedict  XVI, born as Joseph Aloysius Ratzingr, was raised in a profoundly Catholic family. He was born on 16 April 1927 in the German state of Bavaria. 

Pope Francis will lead the funeral ceremony of Pope Benedict in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday. 

He will be buried in the tomb which held John Paul II's remains until 2011, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on Monday.