Pope Benedict XVI: resignation because of insomnia – Panorama

Pope Benedict XVI According to his own statements, he resigned ten years ago because he had not been able to sleep during almost the entire term of office. The magazine reports Focus and refers to a letter to Benedikt’s biographer Peter Seewald, which appears in the edition of the Focus is printed. The letter that Benedikt sent to Seewald a few weeks before his death, on October 28, 2022, states literally that the “central motive” for the resignation “was the insomnia that has accompanied me continuously since World Youth Day in Cologne”.

World Youth Day in Cologne took place in August 2005, four months after Joseph Ratzinger was elected head of the Roman Catholic Church. Initially, his personal physician at the time prescribed “strong remedies,” according to the letter written in German. These initially worked and guaranteed his “availability” as Pope. However, the drugs soon “reached their limits” and “less and less could ensure” its availability.

After all, a serious incident occurred on his trip to Mexico and Cuba in March 2012. According to Benedikt in the letter, the morning after the first night he grabbed his handkerchief as usual. This was “totally soaked with blood”. “I must have bumped into something in the bathroom and fell.” A surgeon knew how to treat the matter “thank God” in such a way that the injuries were not visible.

After this accident, his new personal physician pushed for a reduction in sleeping pills and insisted that he, Benedikt, should only be allowed to appear in public on future trips abroad in the mornings. According to Benedikt, it was clear to him that these medically justified restrictions “could only apply for a short time”. Since the next major trip abroad, World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, was to take place in July 2013 and he knew that he would no longer be able to “manage” this date, he planned his resignation so early that after Rio a “new Pope” would be able to travel, writes Benedict.

Benedict XVI stressed in the letter to the German journalist and author Seewald that after “sober and thoughtful consideration again and again” he would come to the decision to resign. At that time he was no longer able to perform the office appropriately. On request, Seewald confirmed the authenticity of the letter to the Catholic News Agency.

Benedict XVI surprisingly announced on February 11, 2013 that he would resign as Pope on February 28, 2013. He justified his decision at the time with his dwindling strength. “Due to his advanced age” he was no longer able to hold the office. His successor Francis, elected on March 13, 2013, flew to Rio for World Youth Day. Benedict XVI died at the age of 95 on New Year’s Eve 2022.

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