Antonino Galofaro (in Rome), with AFP
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7:07 p.m., December 28, 2022
Pope Francis announced on Wednesday that his 95-year-old predecessor Benedict XVI was “seriously ill” and praying for the one whose resignation in 2013 for health reasons took the world by surprise. “His health deteriorated about three days ago. It is his vital functions that are failing, including the heart,” a Vatican source told AFP, adding that no hospitalization was planned, the residence of Benedict XVI with the necessary medical equipment.
Pope Francis calls for a ‘special prayer’
In front of the faithful gathered at the Vatican, Pope Francis called for a “special prayer” for his predecessor. “To keep his memory alive, because he is seriously ill, to ask the Lord to console him and support him to the end in this testimony of love to the Church,” he added. At the end of the morning, the Holy See confirmed the “worsening during the last hours” of the German theologian’s state of health because of his “advanced age”, specifying that he remained under permanent medical supervision.
Pope Francis himself visited Benedict XVI on Wednesday at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, located in the heart of the Vatican Gardens, where Pope Emeritus Joseph Ratzinger has been enjoying a low-key retirement since relinquishing his charge in 2013 due to failing health.
A pontificate marked by multiple crises
After eight years of a pontificate marked by multiple crises, Benedict XVI was caught up in early 2022 by the drama of child crime in the Church. Questioned by a report in Germany on his management of sexual violence when he was archbishop of Munich, he broke his silence to ask for “pardon”, but assured that he had never covered up a child criminal.
His renunciation, announced in Latin on February 11, 2013, was a personal decision linked to his declining strength and not to the pressure of scandals, had assured the former pope, uncomfortable with crowds, in a book of confidences published in 2016. With this gesture, unprecedented in 700 years, the first German pope in modern history paved the way for his successors whose strength would come to decline. François, 86 and suffering from knee pain, himself left this possibility “open”.
The German government is monitoring the situation
The German government has indicated that it is “monitoring” the situation, “just like the Chancellor (Olaf Scholz) who wishes the pope emeritus a good recovery and sends him his thoughts”. The President of the German Episcopal Confederation Georg Bätzing for his part called on Twitter “the faithful in Germany to pray for Benedict XVI”, as did his counterpart from the Italian Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi. “In this moment of suffering and trial, we close ranks around the pope emeritus,” Matteo Zuppi said in a statement.
Benoit XVI appeared more and more fragile in recent months, moving around in a wheelchair, but he continued to receive visitors. The photos of his last visit received, dating from December 1, showed a frail and visibly weakened man. Born in 1927, Joseph Ratzinger taught theology for 25 years in Germany before being appointed Archbishop of Munich.
He then became the strict guardian of the dogma of the Church for another quarter of a century in Rome at the head of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, then pope for eight years (2005-2013), succeeding John Paul II. . As head of the Catholic Church, he defended a conservative line, notably on abortion, homosexuality or euthanasia.
Statements sometimes misunderstood
His statements have sometimes created misunderstanding, such as on Islam, the use of condoms against HIV or the excommunication of four fundamentalist bishops in 2009. His pontificate was also marked in 2012 by the leak of confidential documents (“ Vatileaks”) orchestrated by his butler. The scandal had exposed a Roman Curia (Vatican government) plagued by intrigue and devoid of financial rigor.
For Eleonora Matsechek, a 19-year-old Italian faithful from Modena present on Wednesday in St. Peter’s Square, Benedict XVI “was a good pope, he showed courage by resigning”. The latest video of Benedict XVI, released by the Vatican in August, shows an emaciated man, equipped with a hearing aid, unable to speak but with still bright eyes.