Dhe retired Pope Benedict XVI. is, according to his successor Francis, “very ill”. The current pontiff asked the faithful on Wednesday at the end of the general audience in the Vatican for a “special prayer” for the 95-year-old Benedict. “Think of him, he is very ill. And ask the Lord to console and support him in this testimony of love for the Church to the end,” said Francis. The pope then visited the former pontiff at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican Gardens, where Benedict has lived in relative isolation since his resignation in 2013.
Benedict’s health has deteriorated in the past few hours, said Matteo Bruni, spokesman for the Holy See, after the visit. On Wednesday evening, the AFP news agency, citing Holy See circles, reported that Benedict’s condition was deteriorating rapidly. Accordingly, the pope emeritus’ vital bodily functions decreased, “including the heart”.
According to a report by the Italian news agency Ansa, the 95-year-old’s health deteriorated before Christmas. As Ansa reported on Wednesday, citing qualified circles, the pope emeritus had breathing problems in the days before Christmas.
Born in Bavaria, whose name was Joseph Ratzinger before he was elected Pope, he has lived relatively isolated in a monastery in the Vatican since his resignation in 2013. Recently it has been said for months that Benedict is physically weak and can hardly speak. Mentally, however, he is fit according to the circumstances. At irregular intervals, Benedikt, who is cared for by his long-time companion Georg Gänswein and nuns, also received visitors.
German bishops also call for prayer
Benedict XVI was elected Pope in 2005 – the first German to head the Vatican in a thousand years. Previously, for 25 years, he was the influential head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Papal States’ most important doctrinal authority. In this capacity he was considered an uncompromising representative of the conservative wing in the Vatican. He disciplined followers of liberation theology in Latin America and thereby earned the reputation of “God’s Rottweiler”.
The former Archbishop of Munich and Freising came under pressure from a German media report in 2022 for failing to take adequate action in four cases of child abuse by church members between 1977 and 1982. In an emotional, personal letter, he then explained that mistakes had been made and he begged for forgiveness.
The Catholic bishops in Germany call for prayer for Benedict XVI. on. “I join Pope Francis’ call to prayer,” said the chairman of the Bishops’ Conference, Limburg Bishop Georg Bätzing, on Wednesday of the Catholic News Agency (KNA): “My thoughts are with the Pope Emeritus. I call on the believers in Germany for Benedict XVI. to pray.”
“When the Holy Father Francis tells us that we should be connected in prayer, then we do that today in particular with the young Christians,” said the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Reinhard Marx, on Wednesday in Bad Tölz in Upper Bavaria at the diocesan opening of the carol singers campaign 2023.
He also heard that on Wednesday morning, the cardinal said when asked about Benedict’s condition. “But for us, we are united in prayer.” He last saw Benedict in September.
“The situation is certainly very serious,” said Benedict’s longtime companion and theologian Wolfgang Beinert on Wednesday. “But that’s not surprising for a man who’s approaching 100.” Until the beginning of the year, he still had correspondence with Benedict, said the emeritus professor of theology. However, he did not reply to a letter on his birthday in April.