Posted on Dec 28, 2022
The Vatican says retired Pope Benedict XVI's health is worsening
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https://www.npr.org/2022/12/28/ [login to see] /pope-benedict-xvi-health
The health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has worsened due to his age, and doctors are constantly monitoring the 95-year-old's condition, the Vatican said Wednesday.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Pope Francis, who asked the faithful earlier Wednesday to pray for Benedict, went to visit his predecessor in the monastery on Vatican grounds where the retired pontiff has lived since retiring in February 2013.
"Regarding the health conditions of the emeritus pope, for whom Pope Francis asked for prayers at the end of his general audience this morning, I can confirm that in the last hours, a worsening due to advanced age has happened,'' Bruni said in a written statement.
"The situation at the moment remains under control, constantly monitored by doctors," according to the statement.
At the end of his customary Wednesday audience with the public in a Vatican auditorium, Francis departed from his prepared remarks to say that Benedict is "very sick" and asked the faithful to pray for the retired pontiff.
Francis didn't elaborate on the condition of Benedict.
The health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has worsened due to his age, and doctors are constantly monitoring the 95-year-old's condition, the Vatican said Wednesday.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Pope Francis, who asked the faithful earlier Wednesday to pray for Benedict, went to visit his predecessor in the monastery on Vatican grounds where the retired pontiff has lived since retiring in February 2013.
"Regarding the health conditions of the emeritus pope, for whom Pope Francis asked for prayers at the end of his general audience this morning, I can confirm that in the last hours, a worsening due to advanced age has happened,'' Bruni said in a written statement.
"The situation at the moment remains under control, constantly monitored by doctors," according to the statement.
At the end of his customary Wednesday audience with the public in a Vatican auditorium, Francis departed from his prepared remarks to say that Benedict is "very sick" and asked the faithful to pray for the retired pontiff.
Francis didn't elaborate on the condition of Benedict.
The Vatican says retired Pope Benedict XVI's health is worsening
Posted from npr.org
Religion
Christianity
Rome
Germany
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Francis has praised Benedict's decision as a courageous acknowledgement that physical frailty no longer left him able to fully serve the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.
Given his own health history, including a knee ligament problem that has forced him to use a wheelchair or a cane, Francis has said that retirement is something he'd consider, if the situation warranted it.
In an interview earlier this month with Spanish newspaper ABC, Francis revealed that shortly after fellow cardinals elected him to succeed Benedict in the papacy, he wrote a resignation letter to have on hand in case medical problems impeded him from carrying out his duties.
But in the same interview, Francis played down his mobility challenge, saying one governs with the head, not the knee.
In Benedict's native Germany, the head of that nation's bishops' conference, Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing, joined in Francis' call for prayers.
"My thoughts are with the emeritus pope," Baetzing told German news agency dpa. "I call on the faithful in Germany to pray for Benedict XVI."
In Berlin, Chancellor Olaf Scholz "wishes the German pope, as we say, a good recovery and his thoughts are with him," government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said during a regular government news conference."...
..."Francis has praised Benedict's decision as a courageous acknowledgement that physical frailty no longer left him able to fully serve the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.
Given his own health history, including a knee ligament problem that has forced him to use a wheelchair or a cane, Francis has said that retirement is something he'd consider, if the situation warranted it.
In an interview earlier this month with Spanish newspaper ABC, Francis revealed that shortly after fellow cardinals elected him to succeed Benedict in the papacy, he wrote a resignation letter to have on hand in case medical problems impeded him from carrying out his duties.
But in the same interview, Francis played down his mobility challenge, saying one governs with the head, not the knee.
In Benedict's native Germany, the head of that nation's bishops' conference, Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing, joined in Francis' call for prayers.
"My thoughts are with the emeritus pope," Baetzing told German news agency dpa. "I call on the faithful in Germany to pray for Benedict XVI."
In Berlin, Chancellor Olaf Scholz "wishes the German pope, as we say, a good recovery and his thoughts are with him," government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said during a regular government news conference."...
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