Vatican: 'not serious' concern for Benedict XVI's health

The Vatican said on Monday that Benedict XVI's health problems are not serious, even though the pope emeritus suffers from a painful illness.

The Vatican press office declared, according to Benedict's personal secretary, Archbishop George Ganswein, "the health conditions of the pope emeritus are of no particular concern, except those of a 93-year-old who is going through the most acute phase of a painful, but not serious, disease “.

The German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse (PNP) reported on 3 August that Benedict XVI has facial erysipelas, or facial herpes zoster, a bacterial skin infection that causes a painful, red rash.

Benedict biographer Peter Seewald told PNP that the former pope has been "very fragile" since his return from the visit of his older brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, in Bavaria in June. Georg Ratzinger died on 1 July.

Seewald saw Benedict XVI at his Vatican home in the Mater Ecclesia monastery on August 1 to present him with a copy of his latest biography of the retired pope.

The reporter said that, despite his illness, Benedict was optimistic and said he could resume writing if his strength returns. Seewald also said that the former pope's voice is now "barely audible".

PNP also reported on August 3 that Benedict chose to be buried in the former tomb of St. John Paul II in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica. The body of the Polish pope was moved to the top of the basilica when he was canonized in 2014.

Like John Paul II, Benedict XVI wrote a spiritual testament that can be published after his death.

After the former pope's four-day trip to Bavaria in June, Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg described Benedict XVI as a man "in his frailty, in his old age and in his finesse".

“Speak in a low, almost whispering voice; and clearly has difficulty articulating. But his thoughts are perfectly clear; his memory, his phenomenal combined gift. For practically all processes of daily life, it depends on the help of others. It takes a lot of courage but also humility to put yourself in the hands of other people and show yourself in public, ”Voderholzer said.

Benedict XVI resigned from the papacy in 2013, citing the advanced age and declining strength that made it difficult to carry out his ministry. He was the first pope to step down in nearly 600 years.

In a letter published in an Italian newspaper in February 2018, Benedetto said: "I can only say that at the end of a slow decline in physical strength, I am internally on pilgrimage at home".