Former Pope Benedict, hero to Catholic conservatives, dies

FILE PHOTO: Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives to attend a mass for the beatification of former pope Paul VI in St. Peter's square at the Vatican October 19, 2014. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Former Pope Benedict, the first pontiff in 600 years to resign and a standard bearer for conservatives who yearned for a more traditional Church, died on Saturday, ending an extraordinary period in which two men wearing white lived in the Vatican.

Benedict, 95, died in a former monastery where he had lived since his shock resignation in 2013.