Pope Benedict XVI of the Roman Catholic Church resigned in 2013 on account of advancing age.
Pope Francis has requested for prayers for his predecessor, Benedict XVI, saying he's “very sick”.
Francis made the shock attraction on Wednesday on the finish of his common viewers, giving no particulars.
Benedict, 95, resigned from his submit on account of advancing age in 2013 and have become the primary pope in about 600 years to take action. He has been residing within the Vatican since then.
“I want to ask all of you for a particular prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who, in silence, is sustaining the church,” Francis stated, talking in Italian.
“Allow us to keep in mind him. He's very sick, asking the Lord to console and maintain him on this witness of affection for the church, till the tip,” he added.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni stated Pope Francis went to go to his predecessor.
“Concerning the well being circumstances of the emeritus pope, for whom Pope Francis requested for prayers on the finish of his common viewers this morning, I can affirm that within the final hours, a worsening on account of superior age has occurred,” Bruni stated in a written assertion.
“The state of affairs in the mean time stays beneath management, consistently monitored by medical doctors,” in response to the assertion.
Exceptionally weak
Till a number of weeks in the past, those that had seen Benedict stated his physique was very frail however his thoughts was nonetheless sharp.
One of many newest recognized pictures of Benedict was taken on December 1, when he met the winners of a prize for theologians named after him. He was seated and regarded exceptionally weak.
Since his resignation Benedict has been residing in a former convent contained in the Vatican gardens, along with his secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, and some different aides and medical employees.
Benedict introduced his intention to resign on February 11, 2013, surprising a gathering of cardinals. He stated he now not had the bodily and psychological power to run the church.
He formally stepped down on February 28 that 12 months, shifting briefly to the papal summer time residence south of Rome whereas cardinals from world wide got here to Rome to decide on his successor.
‘Protected pair of fingers’
Francis, the primary pope from Latin America, was elected to succeed him on March 13, 2013.
Whereas Francis has typically praised the previous pope, saying it was like having a grandfather in a house, the presence of two males wearing white within the Vatican was at occasions troublesome.
Conservatives regarded to the previous pope as their customary bearer and a few ultra-traditionalists even refused to acknowledge Francis as a legit pontiff.
Benedict, the primary German pope in 1,000 years, was elected on April 19, 2005 to succeed the broadly standard Pope John Paul II, who reigned for 27 years.
Cardinals selected him from amongst their quantity in search of continuity and what one referred to as “a protected pair of fingers”.
For practically 25 years, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he was the highly effective head of the Vatican’s doctrinal workplace, then often known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Religion (CDF).
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