Former pope Benedict, a hero to conservative Catholics and who in 2013 became the first pontiff in 600 years to step down, is “very sick”, his successor Pope Francis said, asking Church members to pray for him.
Bishops from Europe, the United States and beyond, urged the faithful to keep Benedict in their thoughts, after the Vatican followed Francis’ announcement with a statement saying Benedict had suffered a sudden “worsening” of his health.“I would like to ask all of you for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who, in silence, is sustaining the Church,” Francis said in Wednesday’s surprise announcement made at the end of his weekly general audience.
Francis, who visited the former pontiff after making the announcement, has often praised Benedict, saying it was like having a grandfather at home. But the presence of two men dressed in white in the Vatican has at times been troublesome. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of the Italy’s bishops conference, asked Italians to keep Benedict in their thoughts “in this moment of suffering and trial”.
Since resigning Benedict has been living in a former convent inside the Vatican gardens, with his secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, and a few other aides and medical staff.
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