Zen was elevated to cardinal by Benedict in 2006, which he said signaled the pope’s focus on China.

Though he is criticized for the sexual abuse crisis in the church during his papacy, Benedict XVI did more than anyone before him to turn the Vatican around on clergy sexual abuse.

The only thing certain is that the most important ritual following the death of a pope—a conclave to elect a new one—does not apply.

The pope’s letter, titled "Totum Amoris Est" ("Everything Pertains to Love"), said that the saint has much to teach the church today.

In a candid account of his five decades in the Salvadoran church, the country’s first cardinal tells of calumnies against El Salvador’s St. Oscar Romero, but also of slights against him by other prelates.

In his Christmas message, he offered special greetings to “our soldiers at the front,” to civilians and soldiers who have been wounded and to all those mourning the loss of loved ones.