VATICAN CITY, Holy See — Former pope Benedict XVI stays in a severe however secure situation, Italian media reported Thursday, the day after the Vatican revealed the 95-year-old’s well being had deteriorated.
“His situation has not changed from yesterday,” an unnamed supply in touch with these across the German ex-pontiff informed ANSA news company, including that medical doctors have been regularly monitoring his well being.
Contacted by AFP, the Vatican neither confirmed nor denied the report.
Benedict, who in 2013 turned the primary pope for the reason that Middle Ages to resign as head of the worldwide Catholic Church, has been in fragile well being for a few years.
But Pope Francis sparked alarm on Wednesday by revealing at his common viewers that his predecessor, whose start title is Joseph Ratzinger, was “very ill.”
He known as for folks to hope for him, earlier than going to go to Benedict on the monastery within the Vatican grounds the place he lives.
The Vatican later confirmed his well being has worsened, whereas a Vatican supply informed AFP on Wednesday that it started deteriorating “about three days ago.”
“It is his vital functions that are failing, including his heart,” the supply mentioned, including that no hospitalization was deliberate, as he has the “necessary medical equipment” at residence.
Benedict had cited his declining bodily and psychological well being in his choice to face down.
His resignation created an unprecedented scenario through which two “men in white”—Benedict and Pope Francis—have co-existed inside the partitions of the tiny metropolis state.
Benedict was 78 when he succeeded the long-reigning and standard John Paul II in April 2005.
He was identified for being a superb theologian, however his papacy was beset by Church infighting and the outcry over clerical intercourse abuse of youngsters.
He turned the primary pontiff to apologize for the abuse that emerged around the globe, expressing “deep remorse” and assembly with victims in individual, however critics mentioned he didn’t do sufficient.
In 2012, his butler Paolo Gabriele leaked secret papers to the media, an act seen as betrayal which profoundly affected the pontiff.
His papacy was additionally marred by a money-laundering scandal on the Vatican financial institution, which uncovered infighting amongst Benedict’s closest allies. — Agence France-Presse
