Pope Francis announces that Benedict XVI is “very ill”

2022-12-28

Pope Francis announced this Wednesday that his predecessor, Benedict XVI, 95, is “very ill”.

“I would like to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, because he is very sick, asking the Lord to console and support him,” Francis said during a general audience, appealing to people to remember him.

Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries, has since withdrawn almost entirely from public view.

The few photographs that emerged of the pope emeritus showed that he was in increasingly fragile health.

In 2013, Benedict XVI cited his declining physical and mental health in justifying his decision to become the first pope since 1415 to step down as head of the world Catholic Church.