Aide recounts Benedict’s last words

A person takes a picture of a portrait of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at St Peter’s Cathedral in Regensburg, Germany (Armin Weigl/dpa via AP)

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s last words were “Lord, I love you,” his long-time secretary said, quoting a nurse who helped care for the 95-year-old former pontiff in his final hours.

Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, a German prelate who lived in the Vatican monastery where Benedict took up residence after his 2013 retirement, said the nurse recounted hearing Benedict utter those words at about 3am on Saturday.