Pope Francis asks for prayers for ‘very ill’ predecessor Pope Benedict XVI
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The Vatican has said former Pope Benedict’s condition remains “serious” but stable, after Pope Francis said the former pontiff is “very ill”.
“The pope emeritus managed to rest well overnight, he is absolutely lucid and conscious, and today, although his condition remains serious, the situation is currently stable,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
The Vatican previously said his deteriorating health was due to his “advanced age” and added that Benedict was being constantly monitored by doctors.
Pope Francis said on Wednesday: “I want to ask all of you for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who, in silence, sustains the Church. Let us remember him.
“He is very ill, asking the Lord to comfort him and sustain him in this witness of love to the Church, until the end.”
The latest statement did not provide any details about Benedict’s condition, but Francis repeated a call for prayer to “accompany” Benedict “in these difficult hours.”
Benedict, who is 95, became the first pope in about 600 years to resign in 2013. He has lived in the Vatican ever since.
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Catholic church leaders from around the world join in prayer for Pope Benedict
Catholic church leaders in Germany, Italy and the United States have joined Pope Francis’ call to pray for the health of former Pope Benedict.
The German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Municht, told the religious on Wednesday: “This morning I received the news that there is great concern in Rome for the health of the Pope Emeritus. And that’s why we want to include him especially in our prayers.”
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of Italy’s Episcopal Conference, asked Italians to keep Benedict in their thoughts “at this time of suffering and judgment.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, said in a statement: “With great faith in the goodness of God, I join Pope Francis in praying for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and ask the Catholic faithful of the Archdiocese of New York York and to all people. of good will will go and do the same.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain 30 December 2022 03:00
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Pope Francis has said he would not live in the Vatican if he retires
Former Pope Benedict currently lives in the Vatican, following his resignation in 2013.
But what has Pope Francis said about his retirement?
The 85-year-old pontiff said in July that he would not live in the Vatican, nor return to his home country of Argentina, if he retired. He said he would prefer to find a church in Rome where he could continue to hear confessions.
He said he doesn’t plan to retire anytime soon, but said “the door is open.”
Speaking about the role Benedict still plays, Francis said having him on hand has been good, but the Vatican should better regulate the role of pope emeritus in the future.
There has been some internal criticism of the choices made by Benedict in his retirement, such as his decision to still wear the white cassock of the papacy and his refusal to return to his birth name, Joseph Ratzinger.
Francis said that Benedict was a “holy and discreet man”, but added: “In the future things should be more defined, or made more explicit. I think that for having taken the first step after so many centuries, get 10 points. It’s a wonder.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain December 30, 2022 02:00
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The main events of the papacy and the retirement of Pope Benedict
April 19, 2005 – German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, is elected to succeed Pope John Paul II as the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Choose the name Benedict XVI.
September 9-14, 2006 – The Pope visits his Bavarian homeland. He provokes protests from the Muslim world with a speech that quotes a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who said that Islam had only brought evil to the world and that it was spread by the sword.
Days later, Benedict says he “deeply regrets” the Muslim reaction to his speech, which he says was misunderstood.
November 28 – December 1, 2006 – The papal trip to Turkey is a fence-mending visit that includes prayers with the Grand Mufti of Istanbul facing Mecca at the city’s Blue Mosque.
July 7, 2007 – The Pope issues a statement allowing the ancient Latin Mass to be celebrated more widely, a demand from traditionalists in the church.
February 5, 2008 – The Pope modifies a Latin prayer for traditionalist Catholics’ Good Friday services, removing a reference to Jews and their “blindness” but still asking them to accept Jesus.
January 24, 2009 – The Pope causes an uproar by lifting the excommunications of four ultra-traditionalist bishops, including a Holocaust denier.
November 6, 2010 – Benedict arrives in Spain for a two-day visit. He attacked abortion and gay marriage, recently legalized in Spain, at a mass to consecrate Barcelona’s Sagrada Família church in another pointed critique of what he called Spain’s “aggressive secularism.”
July 25, 2011 – The Vatican is recalling its ambassador to Ireland after an unprecedented rebuke of the Holy See by the Irish parliament following a report accusing church authorities of covering up sexual abuse.
2012 – Throughout the year, Benedict’s papacy is rocked by a scandal called “Vatileaks” in which leaked documents show infighting among Benedict’s aides and general dysfunction at the heart of the Church’s central administration, known like the Curia.
The scandal exposed financial corruption and allegations of the existence of a so-called “gay lobby” that used blackmail to protect its members.
October 6, 2012 – A Vatican court finds Benedict’s former butler guilty of stealing sensitive documents and sentences him to a year and a half in prison.
Paolo Gabriele said he had acted out of “visceral” love for the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. Benedict later pardoned Gabriele and the Vatican found him a job in a hospital. Gabriele died in 2020.
February 11, 2013 – Benedict announces his intention to resign, saying he no longer has the physical and mental strength to lead the Church. The surprise announcement surprises a meeting of cardinals.
February 28, 2013 – Benedict formally resigns, moving temporarily to the papal summer residence in southern Rome, then to a former convent within the Vatican gardens, with his secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, and other assistants and medical staff.
January 20, 2022 – An independent report in Germany alleges that Benedict failed to act against four cases of sexual abuse in his archdiocese when he was archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982. Benedict later acknowledged that mistakes had been made and apologize
December 28, 2022 – His successor, Pope Francis, asks for prayers for the former pontiff, saying Benedict is “very ill.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain December 30, 2022 01:00
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Who is the former Pope Benedict XVI
Former Pope Benedict, who Pope Francis said Wednesday was “very ill,” resigned in 2013, the first pontiff in 600 years to take that step rather than rule for life.
For nearly 25 years, the former pope, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was the powerful head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). As a theological conservative, Ratzinger left Germany and his position as archbishop of Munich in 1982 to lead the CDF.
His discipline of Latin American priests who promoted Marxist-influenced Liberation Theology earned him the nickname “God’s Rottweiler.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain December 29, 2022 10:24 p.m
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Pope Benedict XVI will be remembered as “one of the great theologians of the 20th century”.
The Catholic Archbishop of Westminster has said Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be remembered as “one of the great theologians of the 20th century”, as the 95-year-old former pontiff’s health worsens.
Speaking to Times Radio, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said: “I met Pope Benedict on many occasions, and he was a very sensitive person, very thoughtful, who was a great theologian.
“He will be remembered as one of the great theologians of the 20th century.
“But he was always so polite. When he came to this country in 2011 he was described as ‘God’s Rottweiler’ but when he left I think he was considered everyone’s great uncle.
“There was a real gentleness about him, and when I saw him just over a year ago, in September last year, that had not changed. He was very very weak, but very bright and very alert and very about it.
“No wonder his life seems to be coming to an end, he’s 95 and has been unwell for a long time.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain December 29, 2022 8:15 pm
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Watch: Pope Francis asks for prayers for ‘very ill’ predecessor Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Francis asks for prayers for ‘very ill’ predecessor Pope Benedict XVI
Maryam Zakir-Hussain December 29, 2022 7:15 p.m
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Pope Benedict’s decision to resign in 2013 will remain ‘an exception’
The Catholic Archbishop of Westminster has said he believes Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s historic decision to step down due to advanced age in 2013 will remain “an exception”.
Speaking to Times Radio, Cardinal Vincent Nichols also described the “great affinity” between the former pope and the late queen, and his admiration for her royal duties until the end.
On former Pope Benedict’s resignation, he said: “This is the first time in 600 years, so who knows what could develop. I think I will be an exception myself.
“I think there was a great affinity between Pope Benedict and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” he added.
“When Benedict decided to come to this country, he decided that the first thing he would…