Doctors are constantly monitoring the 95-year-old's condition, the Vatican said Wednesday. Pope Francis has asked the faithful to pray for the retired pontiff.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to attend the beatification ceremony of Pope Paul VI in 2014. Pope Francis on Wednesday said his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, is"very sick," and he asked the faithful to pray for the retired pontiff so God will comfort him"to the very end.
At the end of his customary Wednesday audience with the public in a Vatican auditorium, Francis departed from his prepared remarks to say that Benedict is"very ill" and asked the faithful to pray for the retired pontiff."I would like to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who is sustaining the church in silence," Francis said.
Francis also paid a visit to Benedict at the monastery four months ago. The occasion was Francis' latest ceremony elevating churchmen to cardinal rank, and the new"princes of the church" accompanied him to the monastery for the brief greeting. He was elevated to cardinal's rank in 1977 by the then-pontiff, Paul VI. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the German prelate and theologian long served as the Vatican's doctrinal orthodox watchdog. He was elected pontiff in 2005.
Given his own health history, including a knee ligament problem that has forced him to use a wheelchair or a cane, Francis has said that retirement is something he'd consider, if the situation warranted it.
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