The emeritus pope, Benedict XVI, remains stable within the seriousness of his conditions and yesterday afternoon he was even able to participate in the celebration of a mass in his own room in the Mater Ecclesiae convent, where he resides inside the Vatican. This was reported by the spokesman for the Holy See, Matteo Bruni, who said that he was able to rest well last night and that for the moment there is no further news on his progress.
“Last night, the emeritus pope was able to rest well. He also participated yesterday afternoon in the celebration of Holy Mass in his room. Currently his situation is stationary ”, read Bruni's brief note.
The Vatican statement follows yesterday, when they already reported that he was awake and "absolutely lucid" a day after Pope Francis warned on Wednesday that he was "very ill" and asked for prayers to accompany him in these difficult times. The worsening of his condition, at the age of 95, is officially due solely to his advanced age, although some media have already talked about kidney problems that have been treated, while others attribute it to respiratory complications.
The Italian newspaper La Stampa, citing sources in the medical environment, points out that the clinical picture continues to be extremely serious and says that the situation is irreversible, since little can be done to stop the physical deterioration that has worsened since Christmas. The deterioration was so sudden that his personal secretary, Georg Gänswein, was in Germany with his family when the Pope revealed his condition and had to take the first plane to return to him.
Benedict XVI would have been the one who, according to the German press, would have asked to spend his last days in the Mater Ecclesiae convent, where he moved after his historic resignation in 2013, together with the people who have been by his side during these more than nine years . Mainly Monsignor Gänswein, but also four consecrated lay women from the “Memores Domini” institute, belonging to the Communion and Liberation movement, who have taken care of him and of the domestic chores.
These days, his personal doctor who already treated him during his pontificate, the Italian cardiologist Patrizio Polisca, and a nurse, the monk Friar Eligio, who lifts him up and lays him down every day, are also with him. They would also have preferred that, given his advanced age, it is best that he not be transferred to the Policlinico Gemelli hospital in Rome, which has a special floor for the pontiffs and which Pope Francis used in July last year to undergo an operation colon.
