By Rhoda Kwan, Claudio Lavanga and Reuters -
NBC News
The health of pope emeritus Benedict XVI has suddenly "deteriorated" in recent hours, the Vatican said Wednesday, after Pope Francis called for prayers for the former pope.
The Holy See reported that Benedict was receiving constant medical attention.
“I would like to ask everyone for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict who, in silence, sustains the Church,” Francis said at the end of his general audience early Wednesday morning.
"He is very sick, asking the Lord to comfort him and sustain him in this testimony of love for the Church, until the end," he added.
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Later, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni added: "I can confirm that in the last few hours his condition worsened due to age.
The situation is currently under control, constantly monitored by doctors."
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Benedict, 95, became the first pope in more than 600 years to resign in 2013 amid the clerical sex abuse scandal that has engulfed the Church.
He since then lives in the Vatican.
A former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, Benedict was born in Marktl Inn, Bavaria, in 1927. Benedict was conscripted into the German anti-aircraft corps at age 16, and was briefly detained by United States troops in 1945 before being released to return to the seminar.
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In 1951 he received priestly ordination and in 2005, at the age of 78, he became the highest representative of the Catholic Church.
In January, an independent report concluded that the pope had failed to act in four sexual assault cases when he was Archbishop of Munich, between 1977 and 1982. He later apologized for handling the cases but did not admit to any wrongdoing.
Since his retirement, Benedict has remained virtually removed from the public scene.