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.
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."I would like to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who is sustaining the church in silence," Francis said.
When Benedict turned 95 in April, his longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, said the retired pontiff was in good spirits, adding that "naturally he is physically relatively weak and fragile, but rather lucid." In his first years of retirement, Benedict attended a couple of cardinal-elevating ceremonies in St. Peter's Basilica. But in recent years, he wasn't strong enough to attend the long service.
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. But in the same interview, Francis played down his mobility challenge, saying one governs with the head, not the knee.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
Vatican says health of retired pope Benedict XVI ‘worsening’Benedict was the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.
Lire la suite »
Vatican says health of retired pope Benedict XVI 'worsening'Pope Francis on Wednesday said his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, is “very sick,' and he asked the faithful to pray for the retired pontiff so God will comfort him “to the very end.”
Lire la suite »
Vatican says health of retired pope Benedict XVI ‘worsening’Doctors are constantly monitoring the 95-year-old’s condition, according to the Vatican.
Lire la suite »
Vatican says health of retired pope Benedict XVI 'worsening'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.
Lire la suite »
Vatican says health of retired pope Benedict XVI 'worsening'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.
Lire la suite »
Vatican says health of retired pope Benedict XVI 'worsening'The Vatican says the health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has undergone a “worsening in the last hours” due to his age and that doctors are constantly monitoring the 95-year-old’s condition. kprc2 click2houston popebenedict
Lire la suite »