Benedict XVI: “I’m fine. I live like a monk.”

Pope Benedict XVI seen waving as he arrived to lead his final general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Feb. 27, 2013. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Catholic World News has a report on remarks Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI made to a friend visiting him in Rome:

“I’m fine. I live like a monk,” Benedict XVI told an old German friend who visited him recently at his new residence in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery on the Vatican grounds.

Manfred Lutz, a German scholar who is a member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Academy for Life, told Bild Zeitung that he found the retired Pontiff “physically weaker and a bit more stooped” than a few months earlier, but still mentally alert and cheerful. He said that the Pope-emeritus found himself thoroughly in accord with the theological statements of Pope Francis.

Benedict XVI described his current life as quiet and relaxed. “I read, I pray. I’m fine,” he said.

 


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About Catherine Harmon 577 Articles
Catherine Harmon is managing editor of Catholic World Report.