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Pope emeritus Benedict XVI’s health is currently under the spotlight. The question is whether he is ill or not.
His brother, 94 year-old Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, says the Pope emeritus is suffering from a nerve disease, which is paralyzing him little by little.
Georg says the illness forces Benedict to use a wheelchair more often. If paralysis reaches the heart, he says, “everything could finish quickly.
“Only God knows if we will meet again,” he says, though he indicated he would like to be Rome in April for Benedict’s birthday.
Some hours after the German press reported Georg’s statements, those close to Benedict XVI in the Vatican said reports of his illness were baseless.
They say Benedict has difficulty moving but this is not due to any neurological disease.
A Vatican statement said the “presumed news of a paralyzing degenerative disease are false.
“In two months, Benedict XVI will turn 91 and, as he has said himself, feels the weight of his years, which is normal at that age.”
Benedict, who in 2013 became the first pope in six centuries to resign, said earlier this month he was in the last phase of life and on a “pilgrimage toward home”.
Last October, he had a fall. A German bishop who went to visit him posted a photo on Facebook showing Benedict with a bruised eye.
Source
- Aleteia
- Reuters
- Image: ABS-CBN News
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