Vatican City, Oct 17, 2017 / 11:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Georg Ganswein, the personal secretary of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, has rejected reports that the former pontiff is nearing death.
Rumors of Benedict XVI being close to death circulated on social media following a quote attributed to Ganswein, which reads, “Pope Benedict is like a candle that fades slowly. He is serene, at peace with God, with himself and the world. He can no longer walk without help and can no longer celebrate Mass.”
However, Archbishop Ganswein called this quote “pure invention.”
“It is false and wrong! I would like to know who the author of this is,” he said, according to German media outlet kath.net.
“I have received in the last two days many messages that refer to this phrase, and people are worried,” he said.
Last week, Ratzinger’s brother was at the Vatican to visit, and he has now returned home, Ganswein confirmed, adding, “Both had a good time.”
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Pope Francis at the general audience on April 25, 2018. / Shutterstock/CNA
Vatican City, Jan 15, 2022 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis said Saturday that it takes saints to reform the Church and for this each Catholic is called to a deeper “secon… […]
Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims from the back of a pickup style popemobile before his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 11, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican City, Jun 11, 2025 / 05:50 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV reflected on Christian hope — one of the three theological virtues, along with faith and charity — during his general audience on Wednesday.
“There is no cry that God does not hear, even when we are unaware that we are addressing him,” the pope said, illustrating this idea with the story of Bartimaeus, described in the Gospel of Mark as a blind beggar who encountered Jesus as He was leaving Jericho.
Pope Leo explained that this story helps us understand that “we must never abandon hope, even when we feel lost.”
The Holy Father today spoke on the healings performed by Jesus and invited Catholics to bring before the heart of Christ their “most wounded or fragile parts” or those areas of life where they “feel paralyzed or stuck.”
“Let us ask the Lord with trust to hear our cry and heal us!” the pope said.
Pope Leo focused on the attitude of Jesus, who does not immediately approach Bartimaeus but instead asks him what he wants. “It is not obvious that we truly want to be healed of our illnesses — sometimes we prefer to remain as we are so as not to take on new responsibilities,” he said.
“It may seem strange that, faced with a blind man, Jesus does not immediately approach him. But if we think about it, this is how he helps reactivate Bartimaeus’ life: He prompts him to rise and entrusts him with the ability to walk,” the pope added.
Indeed, the pope said that Bartimaeus does not only wish to see again — he also “wants to regain his dignity.”
“To look upward, one must lift one’s head. Sometimes people feel stuck because life has humiliated them, and they simply want to regain their worth,” the Holy Father said.
For this reason, he called on the faithful to do everything they can to obtain what they seek, “even when others scold you, humiliate you, or tell you to give up.” “If you truly desire it, keep crying out!” he said.
The pope stressed that what saves Bartimaeus is faith. “Jesus heals us so that we may be free,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV embraces a baby during a ride around St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile before the general audience on June 11, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Exposing ourselves to Jesus with all our vulnerabilities
Leo XIV also reflected on Bartimaeus’ gesture of casting off his cloak in order to stand up.
“For a beggar, the cloak is everything: it is security, it is home, it is the protection that shields him. In fact, the law protected a beggar’s cloak and required that it be returned by evening if it had been taken as a pledge,” he explained.
The pope compared the beggar’s cloak to the illusion of security that people often cling to.
“Often what holds us back are precisely these apparent securities — the things we have wrapped around ourselves for protection, which in reality prevent us from moving forward,” he said.
Pope Leo noted that, in order to go to Jesus and be healed, Bartimaeus “must expose himself to Him in all his vulnerability” — a fundamental step on any path to healing.
Finally, the pope called on the faithful to trustingly bring to Jesus “our illnesses, as well as those of our loved ones,” and “the pain of those who feel lost and without a way out.”
“Let us cry out for them as well, and let us be certain that the Lord will hear us and will stop for us,” he said.
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