Former pope Benedict XVI remains in a serious but stable condition, Italian media reported Thursday, the day after the Vatican revealed the 95-year-old’s health had deteriorated.
“His situation has not changed from yesterday,” an unnamed source in contact with those around the German ex-pontiff told ANSA news agency, adding that doctors were continually monitoring his health.
Contacted by AFP, the Vatican neither confirmed or denied the report.
Benedict, who in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to resign as head of the worldwide Catholic Church, has been in fragile health for many years.
But Pope Francis sparked alarm on Wednesday by revealing at his general audience that his predecessor, whose birth name is Joseph Ratzinger, was “very ill”.
He called for people to pray for him, before going to visit Benedict at the monastery in the Vatican grounds where he lives.
