Jax had quite the New Year’s Eve: In addition to performing live in New York’s Times Square for an audience of millions, she also got engaged.
On her Instagram Story, Jax posted video and pictures of herself performing on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest Saturday night, as well as photos of herself flashing her engagement ring and kissing her boyfriend backstage. “It’s official. “We’re doin the damn thing,” she captioned the photo.
In another photo of herself showing off the ring, she wrote,”The one time I decided to get a purple sparkle manicure for no reason.”
Jax also posted a message from Chelsea Lascher, the pre-teen girl who Jax babysits; she’s the one who inspired the Jax to write “Victoria’s Secret.” Chelsea wrote, “I am so unbelievably happy for my best friends, you guys mean the world to me and you deserve this. I love you guys so much.”
In addition, Jax posted a photo on her Story of herself showing off her ring while posing with her fiancé, as well as New Year’s Rockin’ Eve co-host Liza Koshy and BTS member j-hope, another Rockin’ Eve performer.
It seems like Jax’s fiancé can take a hint: On December 27, she posted a TikTok documenting the moment when he surprised her with a puppy for Christmas. At one point in the video, he asks her to close her eyes to prepare for the surprise. She asks, “Is it an engagement ring?” When he says no, a disappointed Jax says, “Dang!”
(WASHINGTON) — The 118th Congress will see a number of historic “firsts” — the first woman and LGBTQ representative from Vermont, the first Latina representatives from Oregon and the first member of Generation Z, those born from 1997 to 2012.
That 25-year-old, Maxwell Frost, will be the youngest member of a legislative body where the average lawmaker is more than twice his age when he’s sworn in on Jan. 3 as a Democratic member representing Florida’s 10th Congressional District.
Frost’s first order of business may be finding a place to live in Washington.
While he’ll be going from driving Ubers to making $174,000 a year as a member of Congress, Frost said he’s struggled to find an apartment because of bad credit — and sat down with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent and “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl just after learning one of his applications had been rejected.
“It’s not cheap,” Frost told Karl in an exclusive interview at Capitol Hill institution Bullfeathers. “I’m dealing with it right now, getting denied from apartments, trying to figure out where to live because I have bad credit. I’m probably just going to have to, like, couch surf for a little bit.”
Frost is a newcomer to elected office but is no stranger to politics. He’s worked for 10 years as an advocate for increased gun regulation, including with March for Our Lives — the group formed by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas students following the Parkland, Florida, school mass shooting in 2018.
He credits the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre as the catalyst for his political activism. He said he remembers exactly where he was when he heard the news about that shooting in 2012 — with his friends at a restaurant before a high school jazz band concert.
“We looked up at the television screens and saw that somebody walked into an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, and murdered 20 children and six teachers and I remember at the show that night I was playing, [I] couldn’t think straight, kept looking at the exits,” Frost recalled to Karl. “I was very anxious. And it’s really what propelled me to come up here to the vigil and dedicate my life to fighting for a world where there’s no gun violence.”
In June, Frost confronted Gov. Ron Desantis, R-Fla., to act on gun violence during an event of his. Frost was escorted out by security and DeSantis told him, “Nobody wants to hear from you.” After the moment went viral, Frost featured the interaction in a campaign ad.
Frost told Karl he decided to show up to the event “in the spirit of direct action and protest.”
“This was about a week and a half after the Uvalde shooting [in Texas]. He hadn’t said a single word about ending gun violence,” Frost said. “And so, we came to him more with a plea and what I got in return was ‘nobody wants to hear from you’ — getting dragged out by security, having popcorn thrown at me and people yelling curse words and racial slurs.”
While he identifies as a progressive, Frost said would support President Joe Biden if Biden seeks reelection in 2024. Pressed by Karl if he would encourage the president to run again, Frost said he would.
“Joe Biden wasn’t my first choice in the primaries,” said Frost, who previously worked on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the work that the president’s done,” Frost added and pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act. “The whole package didn’t get passed but it sets a standard that a U.S. president said, ‘This is what the American people deserve,’ and now we can go out as progressives and moderates and as Democrats and say, ‘This is the president’s agenda, let’s get it passed,’ and I think that’s important.”
Frost said that while he understands the importance of compromise, he hopes to never lose sight of his “North Star.”
“I think we’re in this politics now where people are scared to talk about their North Star,” Frost said. “And I think it’s important that we not lose sight of that — health care for everybody, ending gun violence, combating the climate crisis. These things are really important. And even though we’re not going to get it next year, you can’t take a first step in a journey if you don’t know where you’re going.”
But Karl noted that “with Democrats you have a debate between those that want to take the incremental win and those that say, ‘No, we’ve got to hold out for something bigger.'”
“I think it’s less of an ideological battle and more of a battle of figuring out what are we talking about and what are we doing in this moment,” Frost responded. “It’s not that progressives and — it’s not that me, that I don’t believe in incremental change, right? I’ve been working in gun violence for 10 years. We just got some incremental change with the bipartisan gun safety package that was passed. It wasn’t everything that we need, but it’s a good first step to ensuring that we end gun violence.”
“I think it’s important to realize that it’s OK to ask for a lot. In fact, that’s why people have sent us here,” Frost added. “It doesn’t mean we’re not going to compromise for something else, but it means we shouldn’t show up at the debate already at the compromise.”
(WASHINGTON) — Arkansas’ Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday that the pro-Trump Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Capitol Hill “disqualifies” Donald Trump from winning the 2024 GOP nomination as he considers his own challenge to the former president.
“I do not believe that Donald Trump should be the next president of the United States. I think he’s had his opportunity there. I think Jan. 6 really disqualifies him for the future. And so, we move beyond that. And that’s what I want to be focused on,” Hutchinson, who will soon travel to the early primary state of Iowa, told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
Karl pressed Hutchinson on if that view meant he definitively wouldn’t support Trump should Trump emerge as the Republican nominee for the White House in two years.
Hutchinson demurred and only said he would consider the options out of what is likely to be a crowded field.
“I want to see what the alternatives are. And it’s premature, Jonathan, to get into what might happen in 2024. That issue will come up. But I want to see everything I can do to make sure there is the alternative and that Donald Trump is not the nominee of the party. That’s the first thing, and let’s figure out how to do that,” Hutchinson said.
His comments come after the House panel investigating the 2021 Capitol attack recently referred criminal charges for Trump and others to the Justice Department over their alleged roles in the violence, including what the committee said was Trump conspiring to defraud the U.S. and aiding the insurrectionists.
Trump has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong and accused the House committee of politically persecuting him.
Hutchinson has consistently said he does not think Trump should be the 2024 nominee but acknowledged in his “This Week” interview that the former president remains the “front-runner,” citing recent polling and his name recognition from his celebrity status and four years in the White House.
Still, Hutchinson said he disagrees with considerations by the party to insert a rule into 2024 primary debates binding presidential candidates to support the GOP’s ultimate nominee.
“I think it would be a mistake to do that. I think it’s obvious that you’ve got a divided party in the sense that you’ve got a base of loyal Trump supporters. But you’ve got what to me is even a larger majority of those that say, ‘We want to go a different direction,'” he said.
Hutchinson has strongly suggested that he’ll make a run of his own after Trump launched his third presidential campaign in November. But he told Karl that there was nothing to announce yet.
“Obviously, I’m going to Iowa later this month. I’m excited about that. But no decision has been made now. And we can’t make a decision until a little bit later. But I want to be a part of the solutions for America,” he said.
That vision of problem-solving, he said, was one way other conservatives could differentiate themselves from Trump in the lead-up to the 2024 race.
“He does not define the Republican Party. And we have to have other voices. … It’s an opportunity for other voices to rise that’s going to be problem-solving, commonsense conservatives. And they can shape the future of the Republican Party but also provide the right counterbalance to [President Joe] Biden’s failed policies. And, to me, that’s what we have to do in 2023,” Hutchinson said.
Looking ahead to other possible 2024 contenders, Hutchinson said that Trump — despite his continued popularity within the GOP — no longer had the appeal of being “new” on the political scene. He argued that Trump’s blend of “chaos” and “anger” could be a turnoff.
“That’s not a new thing anymore. And so I think people move away from it rather than embrace it,” he said.
“You need to have simply a message that’s authentic to yourself, a message that is problem-solving and say, ‘This is what we need to do as a country.’ And that, to me, is the right contrast,” he said.
Hutchinson, who served four years in the House before serving in other federal and state roles, also knocked Rep.-elect George Santos, R-N.Y., after it was revealed following Santos’ midterm election victory that he fabricated or embellished several parts of his resume and personal life.
“There has to be accountability for that. That is unacceptable. I don’t know whether you can go so far as to not seat him but certainly the Ethics Committee should deal with this, and he has to be held accountable for that,” Hutchinson said. “That’s unacceptable in politics. It breaches the trust between the electorate and their elected official.”
(NEW YORK) — An “unprovoked” machete attack on three New York City police officers near Times Square on New Year’s Eve is being investigated as a possible terrorist incident. The suspect is allegedly a 19-year-old man from Maine, whose online posts indicate recent Islamic radicalization, sources told ABC News.
Investigators are looking into whether the suspect came to the annual ball drop specifically to wage an attack on law enforcement, the sources said.
The incident occurred just after 10 p.m. on Saturday near West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue, outside the secure area that had been set up for New Year’s Eve celebrations, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell told reporters at a news conference at Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital.
“Unprovoked, a 19-year-old male approached an officer and attempted to strike him over the head with a machete,” Sewell said. “The male then struck two additional officers in the head with the machete.”
One of the officers fired their weapon, striking the suspect in the shoulder, Sewell said. The suspect was taken into custody, she said.
The three injured officers were taken to Bellevue, Sewell said.
Suspect relatives reported concerns
While a motive remains under investigation, authorities are not ruling out the possibility that the suspect came to New York City specifically to attack police officers at the Times Square ball drop, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Multiple law enforcement sources identified the suspect as Trevor Bickford, 19, of Wells, Maine. He took an Amtrak train to New York City on Dec. 29, the sources said.
Federal and local law enforcement investigators are combing through the suspect’s online postings, which indicate recent extremist Islamic radicalization, the sources said.
Bickford has no prior arrests. His mother and aunt notified law enforcement in recent weeks about their concerns he was gravitating toward dangerous Islamist ideologies, the sources said. The report prompted the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force to look into the suspect, the law enforcement sources said.
The NYPD counterterrorism bureau is investigating the New Year’s Eve attack in conjunction with the FBI.
Should authorities determine the attack was motivated by an Islamist ideology, it would make it the first terror incident associated with New Year’s Eve in Times Square, authorities said.
Prior to New Year’s Eve, the NYPD noted in a pre-event assessment that throughout December “multiple pro-ISIS users disseminated extremist propaganda graphics broadly calling for attacks in advance of the New Year, advocating a wide range of low-tech tactics.” Islamist terror groups have long promoted knife attacks.
Both federal and local law enforcement stressed at Sunday morning’s news conference the attack appeared to be an isolated incident and there was no longer a threat.
Injured officers in stable condition
One of the injured officers, an eight-year veteran of the NYPD, suffered a laceration to the head, officials said. Another hurt officer had just graduated from the police academy on Friday, and as is traditionally the case, his first assignment was the New Year’s Eve detail in Times Square. The rookie officer was also struck in the head, resulting in a skull fracture and large laceration, officials said.
“We are really pleased by the response and how our officers handled this situation,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “All three of the officers are in stable conditions and there are no critical threats to New Yorkers at this time.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Mike Driscoll said the bureau’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is involved to “ascertain what is the nature of the attack.” He said that the FBI believes the attacker was acting alone.
The NYPD released an image of a weapon, saying it had been recovered at the scene. The weapon appeared to be a Gurkha knife, a type of curved blade, according to ABC News contributor Darrell M. Blocker, a retired CIA operative.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, said, “Let’s think about those family members here who are in shock right now, never thinking the first call of the year would be their son, their husband, their family member would be here in Bellevue Hospital.”
‘Everybody’s panicking’
Videos from the scene appeared to show revelers jogging through the rain as they were directed away from the scene by columns of police officers.
David Lyugovski, of California, told ABC News that he saw dozens of officers, some with guns drawn, running toward the scene of the incident.
“They’re all telling us to go towards the viewing area for the ball drop and everybody’s running, everybody’s panicking,” Lyugovski said.
Lyugovski and his brother-in-law, Andrew Dyachkin, of South Carolina, were in New York to watch the Times Square ball drop, they said in a joint video interview.
“Somebody’s yelling, ‘Calm down, calm down,’ because everybody’s on edge,” Dyachkin said. “Like, I’m sure in the back of all of our minds, now this could be a target for, you know, shooting.”
He added, “We thought someone is trying to shoot, you know, as many people as possible. Another mass shooting.”
One of the officers involved in the incident had graduated from the police academy on Friday, Sewell said.
Adams spoke at the officer’s graduation ceremony, he said.
“It just goes to show you, it could be your first day or it could be your last day, the actions that police officers must take every day are life-threatening situations,” Adams said.
ABC News’ Josh Margolin, Keith Harden, Patricio Chile and Mark Crudele contributed to this report.
Anita Pointer, founding member of the legendary sister act the Pointer Sisters, passed away Saturday at the age of 74, with her publicist noting she was “surrounded by family at the time of her death.”
“While we are deeply saddened by the loss of Anita, we are comforted in knowing she is now with her daughter, Jada and her sisters June and Bonnie and at peace,” read a statement from the family. “She was the one that kept all of us close and together for so long. Her love of our family will live on in each of us.”
The statement added, “Please respect our privacy during this period of grief and loss. Heaven is a more loving beautiful place with Anita there.”
Anita and her sisters Bonnie, June and Ruth formed the Pointer Sisters in 1969, and they released their self-titled debut album in 1973. In 1974 they won a Grammy for the track “Fairytale.” Between 1973 and 1985 they had 13 U.S. Top 20 hits including “I’m So Excited” and “Neutron Dance,” which both went to number three, as well as “Fire,” “He’s So Shy,” and “Slow Dance.” Their 1983 triple platinum album Break Out, earned them two more Grammy Awards for the songs “Jump” and “Automatic.”
The sisters also appeared on screen, making their feature film debut in Richard Pryor‘s 1976 film Car Wash, and they also made appearances on such TV shows as The Carol Burnett Show, Love Boat and more. They received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994, and have been honored with the Soul of America Music Awards and inducted into the Soul Train Hall of Fame.
Modest Mouse drummer Jeremiah Green has died at age 45 following a short battle with cancer.
In a statement posted to Instagram on New Year’s Eve, the “Float On” outfit writes, “Today we lost our dear friend Jeremiah. He laid down to rest and simply faded out.”
“Please appreciate all the love you give, get, have given, and will get,” the post continues. “Above all, Jeremiah was about love.”
News of Green’s passing comes after the musician’s mother announced on Christmas Day that her son was “battling stage 4 cancer.” In a statement on December 28, frontman Isaac Brock confirmed that Green had been diagnosed with cancer “a short while ago,” adding that Green’s treatment regiment “seems to be going smoothly and making a positive difference.”
Green was an original member of Modest Mouse, having co-founded the band with Brock and bassist Eric Judy in the early ’90s. He remained with the group ever since, save for a brief hiatus between 2003 and 2004.
The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who played with Modest Mouse between 2006 and 2008, tweeted, “The great Jeremiah Green. My friend, bandmate, and the most creative musician I ever met.”
Foo Fighters have shared a statement reflecting on the past year, and hinting at the band’s future following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022.
In the statement, which was posted to the Foo Fighters Twitter, Dave Grohl and company deem 2022 “the most difficult and tragic year that our band has ever known.”
“We are reminded of how thankful we are for the people that we love and cherish most, and for the loved ones who are no longer with us,” the statement reads.
“Foo Fighters were formed 27 years ago to represent the healing power of music and a continuation of life,” the post continues, referencing Grohl’s launch of the project following the death of his Nirvana bandmate, Kurt Cobain. “For the past 27 years our fans have built a worldwide community, a devoted support system that has helped us all through the darkest of times together. A place to share our joy and our pain, our hopes and fears, and to join in a chorus of life together through music.”
The statement then seems to confirm that Foo Fighters plan to continue on without Hawkins.
“Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were,” the Foos write. “Without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a different band going forward.”
The post concludes, “We also know that you, the fans, meant as much to Taylor as he meant to you. And we know that when we see you again — and we will soon — he’ll be there in spirit with us every night.”
Foo Fighters celebrated Hawkins with a pair of tribute concerts held in Los Angeles and London in September. The star-studded shows both ended with the Foos performing with a variety of guest drummers.
(NEW YORK) — A 28-year-old graduate student arrested in connection with the murders of four University of Idaho students is believed to be the only suspect in the high-profile case, authorities said.
“We believe we have our guy, the one that committed these murders,” Moscow Police Chief James Fry told ABC News Saturday.
Fry said he does not anticipate additional arrests in connection with the murders of roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, who were all stabbed to death in the girls’ off-campus house on Nov. 13.
The suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was arrested early Friday in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, authorities said. He is a graduate student at Washington State University, located less than 10 miles away from the University of Idaho, police said.
Washington State University identifies Kohberger as a Ph.D. student in its department of criminal justice and criminology. He completed his first semester in its criminal justice program earlier this month, the university said.
White Hyundai Elantra found
A white Hyundai Elantra spotted near the victims’ house around the time of the crime is believed to be Kohberger’s, Fry said.
Police had previously said they believe the occupant had “critical” information in the case. Police do not believe anyone else was in the car at the time, Fry said.
Law enforcement personnel seized the car from Kohberger’s parents’ Pennsylvania home and it is being processed, according to Fry.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that police identified Kohberger as a suspect, at least in part, by using DNA technology, and police then tracked the grad student to Pennsylvania through his car.
Moscow police’s only other prior interaction with Kohberger was a traffic citation for not wearing a seatbelt, which was issued while he was in the white Elantra, Fry said. The chief said he cannot release whether the suspect has any prior criminal history elsewhere.
No motive known but believed to be targeted attack
Police are still seeking the murder weapon — believed to be a fixed-blade knife — and do not have a motive, Fry said. The chief said police have evidence this was a targeted attack but cannot share more details at this time.
Within an hour of Kohberger being identified as the suspect, more than 400 calls came in to the Moscow Police Department’s tip line, Fry said.
Kohberger was arrested on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary and is being held without bond, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said. Kohberger is scheduled to appear in a Pennsylvania court on Tuesday to begin the extradition process, Thompson said.
Kohberger intends to waive his extradition hearing to “expedite his transport to Idaho” and is “eager to be exonerated of these charges,” Jason Allen LaBar, a public defender representing the suspect for the hearing, said Saturday.
“Mr. Kohberger has been accused of very serious crimes, but the American justice system cloaks him in a veil of innocence. He should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise — not tried in the court of public opinion,” LaBar said in a statement. “One should not pass judgment about the facts of the case unless and until a fair trial in court at which time all sides may be heard and inferences challenged.”
On lack of transparency
The probable cause affidavit, which details the reasons for Kohberger’s arrest, is sealed and cannot be released until he returns to Idaho, Thompson said.
Once it is unsealed, more information, such as Kohberger’s whereabouts over the past several weeks and what led police to the Hyundai Elantra, will be made public, Fry said.
Frustrations had been mounting among some of the victims’ family members in the wake of the murders and what was criticized as a lack of transparency from police.
Fry addressed those concerns Saturday.
“We did what we had to do professionally, and we will continue to do that,” he said. “We knew what we needed to do. I said from the very beginning — we will protect the integrity of this case. And we did that. I think a lot of people realize that.”
The victims’ families and the Moscow community expressed relief at the news of an arrest after being on edge for more than six weeks.
“I think there’s some closure there,” Fry said. “And it always feels good to give people closure and to help them heal a little bit.”
(NEW YORK) — The death of Barbara Walters, a trailblazing TV icon who broke down barriers during her illustrious five decades long career, has led to tributes from her peers and other prominent figures on her life and legacy.
Walters died Friday at her home in New York the age of 93.
The legendary anchor was the first female anchor in evening news in 1976 , won 12 Emmys awards, inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1989 after 25 years and launched “The View” in 1997 and interviewed many presidents including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. She was admired for paving the way for so many journalists.
“So sad to hear of the passing of Barbara Walters. What an honor to share the set with the inimitable trailblazer when I joined @abc2020,” ABC News Senior National Affairs Correspondent Deborah Roberts tweeted.
“Will never forget the phone call when she asked me to join the groundbreaking program,” she added.
“Barbara Walters was a true trailblazer. Forever grateful for her stellar example and for her friendship. Sending condolences to her daughter and family,” “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts tweeted.
David Muir, anchor of “ABC World News Tonight”, said that Walters defined what it meant to be an icon.
“So often we toss around the words – icon, legend, trailblazer – but Barbara Walters was all of these – and perhaps above all else, Barbara Walters was brave. She paved the way for so many – we learned from her – and remain in awe of her to this day. RIP, Barbara,” Muir wrote on Instagram.
Diane Sawyer, who formerly anchored “World New Tonight” and used to co-anchor “20/20” on Sundays with Walters shared memories of her time with Walters.
“Barbara was a trailblazer, a singular force who opened the door for every woman in television news,” she said in a statement. “She was also the history maker right down the hall — my friend and road buddy, eager to talk about the news world, the decades of passionate work — the curiosity and laughter that gets us all through. Sadness. Gratitude. And a salute from all of us who know what we owe her.”
Oprah Winfrey credited Walters for making it possible for her own celebrated career.
“Without Barbara Walters there wouldn’t have been me — nor any other woman you see on evening, morning, and daily news. She was indeed a Trailblazer. I did my very first television audition with her in mind the whole time. Grateful that she was such a powerful and gracious role model. Grateful to have known her. Grateful to have followed in her Light,” she wrote on Instagram.
Walters’ influence was felt beyond just the world of media as other figures such as President Joe Biden honored her.
“Barbara Walters has always been an example of bravery and truth — breaking barriers while driving our nation forward. Her legacy will continue as an inspiration for all journalists,” he tweeted, along with a photo of himself and Walters.
“Jill and I send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline, and to those who loved her,” the tweet continued.
Barbara Walters has always been an example of bravery and truth — breaking barriers while driving our nation forward. Her legacy will continue as an inspiration for all journalists.
Jill and I send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline, and to those who loved her. pic.twitter.com/e5Cl6bsyvA
Sports legends including NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar remembered her as well.
“Barbara Walters never flinched when questioning the world’s most powerful people. She held them accountable. She cared about the truth and she made us care too. Fortunately, she inspired many other journalists to be just as unrelenting. We are all better off because of her,” Abdul-Jabbar tweeted.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher called Walters, who joined AFTRA in 1954 and SAG in 1991, a pioneer in her field.
“To be the first woman at anything speaks volumes to the strength and character of that woman, but to be the first woman in network news suggests a woman of intellect, tenacity and a fearless ability to uncover, confront and illuminate; in short, the one and only Barbara Walters. She blazed a trail for many other women to follow, who can pursue the possible because Barbara Walters did it first!” Drescher said in a statement Saturday.
Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, said Walters was in a league of her own.
“Barbara Walters was in a class by herself – a trailblazer and journalist of the highest degree. She was also a dear, dear friend of mine for many years. I will miss her,” Gordy said in a statement Saturday.
(ROME) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died at his home in the Vatican at 95, Vatican officials announced.
“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible,” said the Director of the Holy See press office Matteo Bruni’s statement.
The Vatican press office has said that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s body will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican from Monday through Wednesday for the faithful to pay their respects.
His funeral is scheduled for Thursday at 9:30 a.m. local time in St. Peter’s Square on the parvis of St. Peter’s Basilica and will be presided over by Pope Francis, the Vatican press office said. Following the funeral mass, his coffin will be taken to the Vatican Grottoes, located below St. Peter’s Basilica, for burial.
After his surprise resignation in February 2013 at the age of 85, Benedict was only known to have left the tiny sovereign state briefly and was rarely seen in public.
Election and papacy
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was named the 265th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on April 19, 2005, at the age of 78, and chose the name of Benedict XVI. He was the first German pope in several centuries, the second consecutive non-Italian pope and the oldest pope elected since Clement XII in 1730, according to church records.
He was elected in four ballots, which is considered relatively quick for the Church.
During his nearly eight years as pope, the Catholic Church was the subject of several major scandals. A growing number of sexual abuse cases involving the clergy was perhaps the most damaging and revealed a repeat-pattern of how the church had dealt with these cases in the past; leaving the abusers and their superiors, who covered up for them, to go unpunished by law enforcement.
Some Vatican watchers considered the revelations to be the greatest crisis the church has faced since the Reformation. First as cardinal in his doctrinal post in the Vatican and later as Pope, Benedict acted to develop a unified church response to stop this increasingly public clerical sex abuse crisis.
Benedict reiterated the Church’s traditional conservative positions on important doctrinal issues like abortion, contraception, homosexuality, euthanasia and the priesthood.
He angered some Muslims with his 2006 speech in Regensburg, Germany, which was interpreted by some as anti-Islam. Afterwards, he worked to build more bridges between the two faiths.
Many Catholics loved and respected him until his death. His successor, Pope Francis, frequently spoke fondly of him and during his trip to Malta in April 2022 described him as a “prophet” for predicting that the Catholic church of the future would become “smaller” but more “spiritual, poorer and less political.”
Benedict’s snow-white hair, soft-spoken manner and love for cats and classical music — especially piano — helped endear him to many.
Although his papacy was relatively brief, Pope Benedict XVI made 24 foreign trips visiting every habitable continent. His first visit was in August 2005 to Cologne, in his native Germany, for the Church’s 20th World Youth Day. He made a trip to the U.S. in 2008, during which he delivered a speech to the U.N. General Assembly.
A prolific writer throughout his life, he penned speeches, encyclicals, exhortations and a three-book biography, “Jesus of Nazareth,” while pope.
He beatified 322 people and canonized 45, including two Americans: Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint, and Marianne Cope, who spent the last 30 years of her life ministering to the sick on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.
Bavarian boyhood and WWII
Joseph Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, part of Germany’s southern region, on April 16, 1927. His father was a policeman and his mother was a former cook. He had a brother and sister.
He followed his older brother, Georg, into the seminary in 1939 at the age of 12, per his autobiography. When he was 14, Ratzinger was enrolled in Hitler’s Nazi youth movement; at the time, membership was compulsory. In 1943 he was drafted into a Nazi anti-aircraft unit, but his unit never saw combat.
At the end of WWII, in April 1945, he deserted and returned home. He was sent to a U.S. prisoner of war camp in May 1945, as a former soldier, but was released after a few months.
Following the war, which ended when he was 18, the two brothers returned to the seminary. Joseph and Georg were ordained priests and celebrated their first mass on June 29, 1951.
Before becoming pope
After being ordained, Ratzinger pursued a successful university career teaching a dogmatic and fundamental theology at a number of German universities. In 1977, Ratzinger was appointed archbishop of Munich and Freising. Three months later, he was elevated to cardinal by Pope Paul VI.
Three years after his election, Pope John Paul II called Cardinal Ratzinger to Rome to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, in charge of all the Church’s doctrinal matters.
As John Paul II’s health declined, Ratzinger took on a more important role at the Vatican and in 2002, he became dean of the College of Cardinals. As dean, he had an important role in the period between the death of John Paul II and the election of the new pope, which included summoning the conclave to elect the new pope.
His long service to Pope John Paul II in the Vatican meant he was known and respected by most of the cardinals who elected him. His stature grew after he presided over John Paul’s funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
Electing Benedict, the cardinals hoped he would clean up the church — which was still in the throes of the clerical sex abuse scandals — because of his deep knowledge of its workings after twenty-four years at his job at the Vatican, alongside his predecessor.
Retirement
Pope Benedict’s surprise retirement announcement was delivered in Latin to a roomful of cardinals in the Vatican on Feb. 11, 2013. With his retirement, many Vatican watchers suddenly saw him in a modern and revolutionary light, no longer a “conservative,” which is how he had been mostly labeled throughout his pontificate.
He was succeeded by Pope Francis, from Argentina, who was elected on March 13, 2013.
Only six other popes are believed to have resigned in 2,000 years of church history; the more recent was Gregory XII in 1415. Some speculated that scandals had led Benedict to resign, but he said in a 2016 interview it was his “duty” because his health was declining and he couldn’t keep up with the travel demanded in the job.
Although frail in his later years, Benedict continued to write, read, pray and take walks in the Vatican gardens, according to Vatican officials. He also had occasional visits from Pope Francis, cardinals, his brother and friends.
In 2020, at the age of 93, when already frail, Benedict returned to Bavaria, Germany for four days to visit Georg, who was seriously ill, and with whom he had been very close throughout his life. It was the first time since his resignation, more than seven years earlier, that Benedict was known to have left his residence at the Vatican — and Italy.
In 2022, the infirm, retired pope asked forgiveness in a written statement for any “grievous faults” in his past handling of sex abuse cases in the church but denied any personal or specific wrongdoing. He was responding to a German independent report on clerical sex abuse, issued in January of the same year, which had criticized how Benedict had dealt with four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany from 1977 to 1982.
Victim groups and some experts said the report’s findings had tarnished the former pope’s legacy as one of the most renowned Catholic theologians, while other conservative supporters, critical of the present pope’s style, defended his actions.
Giovanna Chirri, the Vatican reporter, who scored a worldwide scoop as she immediately understood the Latin of Benedict’s surprise announcement, told ABC News “he was not very understood as pope and was a victim of rather radicalized prejudices which made him disliked by many.”
However, she added, “people’s perception of him changed with his resignation and his symbolic and dramatic temporary departure by helicopter from the Vatican on Feb. 28, 2013, the day of his resignation.”
The scene was broadcast live to millions around the world.
ABC News’ Bianca Seidman and Alexandra Svokos contributed to this report.
