Benedict XVI, in serious but stable and lucid condition, says the Vatican

Former Pope Benedict XVI, 95, for whom his successor Francis asked for prayers, is in serious condition but “stable” and “fully lucid,” the Vatican reported Thursday.

“The Pope managed to rest well last night, he is awake and fully lucid and today [jueves]Although his condition remains serious, the situation is stable for the moment,” said the director of the Vatican press office, Matteo Bruni.

Pope Francis “renews the invitation to pray for him and accompany him in these difficult hours,” he added.

Francis announced Wednesday that his predecessor was “very ill” and that he was praying for the pontiff whose resignation in 2013 for health reasons shocked the world.

“His health deteriorated about three days ago. It is his vital functions that are failing, including his heart,” a Vatican source told AFP on Wednesday, explaining that no hospitalization is planned, since Benedict XVI’s residence has the necessary medical equipment.

Francis himself visited Benedict XVI on Wednesday, increasingly frail and in a wheelchair.

Photos from his last visit, on December 1, showed a frail and visibly weakened pope.

In the last public video of Benedict XVI, released by the Vatican in August, he appeared thin, with a hearing aid and unable to speak.

On Friday a mass will be held in his honor in the Roman Basilica of St. John Lateran, which reports directly to the Vatican.

conservative line

Benedict XVI’s eight-year pontificate, from 2005 to 2013, was marked by multiple crises, including revelations about religious sexual abuse of minors in various countries.

A report in Germany questioned his handling of sexual violence during his time as Archbishop of Munich, and he came out of his silence to ask for “pardon”, but assured that he had never covered up any pedophile.

His resignation, announced in Latin on February 11, 2013, was a personal decision linked to the decline in his forces and not to the pressure of scandals, said the emeritus pope in a book published in 2016.

Although he never achieved the popularity of his charismatic predecessor John Paul II, Benedict XVI is a highly respected figure in the Catholic world.

Most of the Italian newspapers published on the front page the Pope’s appeal to pray for him. The Corriere della Sera published on its front page a photo of the former pope whispering into Francis’ ear.

As head of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI defended a conservative line, especially in matters of abortion, homosexuality and euthanasia.

His statements have sometimes caused scandal, such as on Islam, the use of condoms against HIV and the excommunication of four fundamentalist bishops in 2009.

His pontificate was also marked in 2012 by the leak of confidential documents (“Vatileaks”) orchestrated by his butler. The scandal exposed a Roman Curia (Vatican government) riddled with intrigue and lacking in financial rigor.

On Wednesday night, a red candle burned before a photo of the former pope displayed inside St. Oswald’s Church in Markt am Inn, his hometown, near the Austrian border.