By NICOLE WINFIELD
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is lucid, alert and secure however his situation stays severe, the Vatican stated Thursday, a day after it revealed that the 95-year-old’s well being had deteriorated not too long ago.
An announcement from Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni stated Pope Francis requested for continued prayers “to accompany him in these troublesome hours.”
On Wednesday Francis revealed that Benedict was “very ailing” and went to see Benedict at his house within the Vatican the place he has lived since retiring in 2013, sparking fears that he was close to loss of life.
The Vatican later stated Benedict’s well being had deteriorated in current hours however that the state of affairs was underneath management as docs monitored him.
Benedict in 2013 grew to become the primary pope in 600 years to resign, and he selected to stay out his retirement in seclusion in a transformed monastery within the Vatican Gardens. Few had anticipated his retirement — now in its tenth 12 months — to last more than his eight-year reign as pope.
Bruni stated Thursday that Benedict “managed to relaxation effectively final night time, is totally lucid and alert and right this moment, whereas his situation stays grave, the state of affairs for the time being is secure.”
“Pope Francis renews the invitation to wish for him and accompany him in these troublesome hours,” he stated.
Responding to that decision, the diocese of Rome scheduled a particular Mass in honor of Benedict on Friday at St. John Lateran, Benedict’s former cathedral in his capability because the bishop of Rome. The pope’s vicar for Rome, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, was to rejoice.
Phrase of Benedict’s declining well being instantly posed questions on what would occur when he dies, given the unprecedented actuality of getting a reigning pope presumably presiding over the funeral of a former pope.
Most Vatican specialists count on any funeral would resemble that for any retired bishop of Rome, albeit with the caveat that there can be official delegations to honor a former head of state, in addition to pilgrims from Germany — homeland of Benedict, the previous Joseph Ratzinger — and past.
In Germany on Thursday, bishops requested for prayers and a few of the devoted headed to the Chapel of Grace in town sq. in Altoetting, a serious pilgrimage vacation spot a number of miles from Benedict’s hometown of Marktl am Inn that he visited many instances in his life.
“I do know that he has been making ready for his coming house within the everlasting world,” stated Herbert Hofauer, the retired mayor of the deeply Catholic city who stated he noticed Benedict final within the spring. “I imagine that he’s very calmly wanting ahead to this encounter.”
On the St. Oswald church in Marktl, the place Benedict was baptized, lay head of the native congregation Sandra Maier put up a framed image of the previous pope and organized a small pew so parishioners might kneel and pray for him.
Maier stated she was “shaken and deeply moved by the information” on Benedict’s well being. “I want for him to have a simple time now and never undergo a lot,” she stated.
“We’re proud right here in Marktl that we’ve a Bavarian pope,” Maier, 50, stated, recalling the 2 instances she met him personally. “He’s an excellent man and was a terrific pope.”
Whereas St. Peter’s Sq. within the Vatican was largely stuffed with guests from overseas on Thursday — throughout peak Christmas vacationer season — some Italians have been out to pay their respects or at the very least provide a prayer.
“Clearly it’s a dangerous state of affairs, we’re all near Pope Ratzinger, we’re unhappy in regards to the state of affairs, so we got here right here to make our small contribution,” stated one pilgrim, Giorgio Gibin.
One other customer to the sq., Anna Małcka, famous Benedict’s superior age and wished him effectively.
“I believe by now he has lived about lengthy sufficient, poor factor, and since he’s sick, he isn’t effectively, if God needs, he’ll take him away,” she stated.
In any other case, whereas the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano headlined its Thursday editions with information of Benedict’s well being, life continued as regular within the tiny city-state that Benedict and Pope Francis name house.
Francis had a seemingly routine day of audiences Thursday, assembly together with his ambassador to Madagascar, the commander of the Swiss Guards and a fellow Jesuit.
Within the sq., the road of vacationers ready to get into St. Peter’s Basilica wrapped virtually totally across the piazza, with {couples} and households stopping to pose for selfies in entrance of the life-sized Nativity scene and Christmas tree arrange within the sq..
Small teams of nuns hurried throughout the cobblestones and tour guides holding flags herded their costs, whereas close by memento sellers did brisk enterprise hawking Vatican magnets, rosaries and bobblehead Francis statues.
“We hadn’t heard the information,” stated Liam Marchesano, a 22-year-old economics pupil from Mantova who was ready to see the basilica together with his girlfriend. “Possibly that’s why there’s such an extended line.”
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Kirsten Grieshaber contributed from Marktl Am Inn, Germany; Luigi Navarra and Joel Paqui contributed from Vatican Metropolis.