Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: A small glimmer of hope

In Rome there are still concerns about Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. However, positive signals are also coming from the Vatican today: According to a news agency, his health condition is “serious but stable”.

According to the usually well-informed Italian news agency ANSA, citing Vatican sources, Benedict’s health remains serious but stable.

A small glimmer of hope after Pope Francis surprisingly called for prayers for his predecessor in yesterday’s general audience and said that Benedict was “very ill”.

Global call to prayer

The 95-year-old has hardly appeared in public in recent months. Visitors reported that they had experienced Benedict as physically very weak but mentally still agile. Numerous cardinals and chairmen of bishops’ conferences worldwide have joined the Pope’s call to prayer for Benedict, including the supreme German bishop Bätzing.

In Rome, the president of the Jewish community also said he would pray for the emeritus pope. Benedict was the first pope of modern times to resign from his office in 2013, even then he cited health reasons as the reason for this step