The Vatican reported that former Pope Benedict XVI was seriously ill, a German newspaper said on Monday but his condition was “not particularly worrying” and that he was overcoming a painful but not grave ailment.
The reports came hours after the ex Pope’s biographer, Peter Seewald raised an alarm saying he found the 93-year-old exceptionally frail when he visited him over the weekend.
Seewald said the ex-pope, who has not been well for some time, was now suffering from shingles – a viral infection that caused painful rashes and common among the elderly.
“The health conditions of the Pope Emeritus are not particularly worrying, apart from being those of an old man of 93 who is overcoming the most acute phase of a painful but not grave illness,” the statement said.
The biographer said Benedict’s voice was barely audible and the former pope told him he might pick up writing again if he regains his strength.
Back in June, Benedict left Italy for the first time since his resignation in 2013 for an emotional farewell visit to his older brother George in their native Bavaria.
Benedict’s brother Georg Ratzinger died on July aged 96, The two were ordained on the same day in 1951.
Benedict who was elected in 2005 to take over from the late Pope John Paul II after, shocked the world as well as his closest friends on be 11, 2013, when he announced in Latin he was stepping down.
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According to him, he made an early retirement because he was too old and frail to lead with over 1.3 followers.
At the time of his retirement, the Vatican was mired in a craft of infighting, sexual abuse scandal, and financial woes among the bureaucrats that led to leaks of important documents.
He revealed that his resignation was for exclusively health reasons.
