Pope Francis greets retired Pope Benedict XVI at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery after a consistory for the creation of 20 new cardinals in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Aug. 27, 2022. Looking on is Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the retired pope's private secretary. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
“I would like to ask all of you for a special prayer for emeritus Pope Benedict,” Pope Francis said at the end of his weekly general audience Dec. 28.
The 95-year-old retired pope “is sustaining the church in silence,” Pope Francis said. “Remember him. He is very sick.”
“Ask the Lord to console him and sustain him in his witness of love for the church until the very end,” Pope Francis said.
The Vatican press office did not immediately respond to requests for more information about the retired pope.
On Feb. 11, 2013, Pope Benedict announced that he would retire effective Feb. 28 that year. He spent the first several months of his retirement at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo before moving into the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens where he has lived since.
The retired pope has looked increasingly frail, but as recently as Dec. 1 the foundation that promotes his theological work released photos of him meeting with the two winners of the Ratzinger Prize. He also met in August at the monastery with Pope Francis and the new cardinals the pope had just created.
Retired Pope Benedict XVI smiles at Germany’s Munich Airport before his departure to Rome June 22, 2020. (CNS photo/Sven Hoppe, Reuters)
Pope Benedict XVI receives a picture from U.S. President George W. Bush after a meeting in the medieval St. John’s Tower in the Vatican Gardens June 13, 2008. Pope Francis is scheduled to meet U.S President Joe Biden at the Vatican Oct. 29. (CNS photo/Filippo Monteforte, Reuters pool)
Retired Pope Benedict XVI talks with Pope Francis during a meeting at the Vatican in this June 30, 2015, file photo. While papal resignation is provided for in canon law, it’s not specifically regulated. An effort has been launched by some canon lawyers to hash out proposals to regulate it. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)
Pope Francis meets retired Pope Benedict XVI after opening the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in this Dec. 8, 2015, file photo. While papal resignation is provided for in canon law, it’s not specifically regulated. An effort has been launched by some canon lawyers to hash out proposals to regulate it. (CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters)
Pope Benedict XVI walks away after his final public appearance as pope at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Feb. 28, 2013. Speaking of his resignation, the retired pope recently told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that “it was a difficult decision, but I made it in full awareness, and I believe it was correct.” (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Retired Pope Benedict XVI is seen in a file photo strolling in a garden in Bressanone, Italy, with his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger. Msgr. Ratzinger, 96, died July 1, 2020. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)
Retired pope Benedict XVI visits his parents’ grave in Regensburg, Germany, June 20, 2020. (CNS photo/Armin Weigel, DPA, Reuters)
Pope Benedict XVI delivers a blessing at the conclusion of a Mass for the Knights of Malta in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Feb. 9, 2013, two days before he announced his resignation. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Retired Pope Benedict XVI greets cardinals before a consistory for the creation of new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in this Feb. 22, 2014, file photo. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
