Pope Benedict "very ill": health deteriorating - "under control for the moment"
Created: 2022-12-29 05:23
By: Florian Naumann
Benedict XVI
still visited his parents' grave in 2020.
© dpa / Armin Weigel
Former Pope Benedict is apparently "very ill": Successor Francis called for prayers on Wednesday.
Vatican circles
give an assessment of Benedict's condition: have you had breathing problems for days?
Benedict's condition
has "deteriorated": Pope Francis rushes to his predecessor
Concern for
Benedict ,
Pope
Emeritus "very ill"
: Francis calls for prayers.
Update from December 28, 9.40 p.m .:
The closest confidante of the sick Pope Benedict XVI.
is apparently at the side of the seriously ill Joseph Ratzinger, as the pontifex from Bavaria was called by his real name.
Archbishop Georg Gänswein was the Pope's personal secretary.
According to the
picture
, the 66-year-old Black Forest man prays in the Mater Ecclesia monastery in the Vatican Gardens for his mentor, who is apparently suffering from shortness of breath.
According to the Italian news agency Ansa, the 95-year-old has had breathing problems for the past few days.
The current Pope Francis asked Catholics this Wednesday to pray for his predecessor.
Pope Benedict sick: the emeritus pontiff's health is deteriorating
Update from December 28, 7.30 p.m .:
The health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
seems to be getting worse, according to the Vatican.
According to this, the vital bodily functions of the sick pope, who had given up his office as pontiff in 2013, would decrease.
It also includes the heart.
This is reported by the AFP news agency, citing Vatican circles in Rome.
Already in the morning, the successor of Pope Benedict had called for prayer for the former pope at his general audience.
Pope Francis had said that his predecessor Benedict was "very ill".
Pope Benedict sick: vital functions are declining – situation “under control for the moment”
In the hours that followed, the state of health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
however, progressively deteriorated.
This was stated by Matteo Bruni, spokesman for the Holy See.
In addition, the spokesman for the Holy See said that the situation was "under control for the moment".
Pope Benedict sick: biographer sees health as "certainly very worrying"
Update from December 28, 4:30 p.m .:
Benedict biographer Peter Seewald rates the reports on the state of health of the Pope Emeritus as “certainly very worrying”.
Benedict himself has long been longing for his "going home," he told the dpa.
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Incumbent Francis had declared at the very end of the general audience that Benedict was “very ill”.
The Argentine is known for his often spontaneous comments.
Vatican experts are divided as to whether Francis really meant that Benedict was seriously ill or whether he just wanted to say that he was very weak due to old age.
It is not unusual for him to visit his predecessor in the monastery at Christmas.
In a tweet, Francis later repeated the request to pray for Benedict.
The fact that he was “very ill” was no longer in the post.
You can find an overview of Benedikt's life in pictures and bullet points in this article.
Vatican circles give an assessment of Benedict's condition: have you had breathing problems for days?
Update from December 28, 2:30 p.m .:
The health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
According to a report by the Italian news agency Ansa, the situation had already deteriorated before Christmas.
As Ansa reported on Wednesday, citing qualified circles, the 95-year-old had breathing problems in the days before Christmas.
There was initially no official confirmation of this.
Update from December 28, 1:00 p.m.:
High-ranking German clergy are also concerned about the reports about Benedict XIV’s condition.
He received the news "with great concern," explained Regensburg's Bishop Rudolf Vorderholzer.
He joined the request to pray for the ex-Pope, as the Regensburg diocese announced on Wednesday.
Companions and clergy had previously expressed concern.
Benedict's condition has "deteriorated": Francis rushes to his predecessor
Update from December 28, 12:45 p.m .:
After calling for prayers for his predecessor Benedict XVI, Pope Francis
personally visited the emeritus pontiff.
Francis went to the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said, according to the Italian newspaper
la Repubblica
.
"We pray together with him for the Pope Emeritus," he added.
Update from December 28, 11:44 a.m .:
The health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
has deteriorated in the past few hours.
This was announced by Matteo Bruni, the spokesman for the Holy See.
However, he added that the situation was "under control for the moment".
She is constantly monitored by doctors.
Benedict XVI
“very sick”: Pope Francis calls for prayers
First report from December 28:
Vatican City/Munich – Concern for the retired Pope Benedict XVI: Successor Francis called for a “special prayer” for Benedict during his general audience on Wednesday morning (December 28), several media reports unanimously.
The Reuters news agency also reported on the statement.
The 95-year-old was "very ill," said the incumbent pontiff.
"I would like to ask all of you for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who is silently supporting the Church," Francis said in Italian: "Let's think of him.
He is very ill, we ask the Lord to comfort him and support him to the end in this testimony of love for the Church.” The Pope did not give any further details.
Pope Benedict XVI: "The situation is certainly very serious"
An official statement from the Vatican was initially not available.
The Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Reinhard Marx, said in Bad Tölz, Upper Bavaria, at the diocesan opening of the carol singers' campaign in 2023 that he knew the news 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.
"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.
Pope Benedict XVI "very ill": 95-year-old has been severely weakened for months
Born in Bavaria, Benedikt, who was called Joseph Ratzinger before his election as Pope, has lived relatively isolated in a monastery in the Vatican since resigning in 2013.
For months it has been said that Benedict is physically weak and can hardly speak.
Mentally, however, he is fit according to the circumstances.
Benedict also received visitors at irregular intervals.
He is cared for by his longtime companion Georg Gänswein and nuns.
In 2020, Benedikt had visited his sick brother in Bavaria.
Benedict is the oldest pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Leo XIII
was 93 years old - but in office and with dignity.
(
fn
)