Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, 93, suffers from an infectious face disease and is “extremely fragile”, according to an article in the German regional newspaper Passauer Neue Presse, which quotes biographer Peter Seewald.
Benedict XVI suffers from erysipelas on the face, an infectious disease characterized by swelling and reddish plaques, which causes a lot of itching and sharp pain, the newspaper states.
According to Seewald, “The Pope Emeritus is now extremely fragile (…) His intellectual capacity and memory have not been affected, but his voice is barely audible”, escribe el Passauer New press.
Peter Seewald met with Benedict XVI in Rome on Saturday to present his biography, he adds.
“During this meeting, the Pope Emeritus, despite the illness, was optimistic and said that if he has more strength, he may take up his pen again,” he added.
In June Benedict XVI visited his older brother Georg, who was ill, in Germany, on his first trip outside Italy since his unexpected resignation in 2013. Georg Ratzinger passed away two weeks later.
The two brothers, both ordained priests on the same day, in June 1951, were very close.
Benedict XVI was the first pope to resign in almost 600 years. He alleged for this reason of health and since then has led a monastic life in a small Vatican monastery.
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