“Lord, I love you,” are reported to be the last words Pope Emeritus Benedict uttered shortly before his death, according to a report on The Vatican News website.
The retired pope’s personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, said a nurse was the only person with Benedict at the time.
“I was not there at the moment, but the nurse told me about it shortly afterwards,” Ganswein said. “These were his last comprehensible words, because afterwards he was no longer able to express himself.”
Benedict’s remains will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica from Monday to Wednesday and his funeral will be Thursday.
Benedict, born Joseph Ratzinger, was the first pope in 600 years to step down from his Vatican post. The retired pope lived behind the Vatican’s walls for almost 10 years.
He was 95 at the time of his death.