Pope Francis yesterday asked people to pray for his predecessor Benedict XVI.
Addressing crowds at the Vatican in his regular weekly audience, he said: “I’d like to ask all of you for a special prayer for Emeritus Pope Benedict, who, in silence, is sustaining the church.
“I remind you that he is very sick. Let’s ask the Lord to comfort him and sustain him in this testimony of love to the church to the very end.” The Pope gave no further details on his condition.
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But the Vatican later said that Pope Emeritus Benedict’s health had worsened in recent hours.
Spokesman Matteo Bruni added: “The situation at the moment remains under control.”
Benedict, 95, served as the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from April 2005 until his dramatic resignation in February 2013.
The first pontiff to resign in nearly 600 years, he said old age was limiting his abilities. Earlier this month Pope Francis revealed he too had submitted a resignation letter soon after his election in 2013, to take effect should illness stop him fulfilling his duties.
In his Christmas message the Pope spoke of “icy winds of war” and made an impassioned plea for an immediate end
to the “senseless” fighting in Ukraine.
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