Benedict XVI is “stable” and has participated in a mass

The Vatican has informed this Friday, after three in the afternoon, that the emeritus pope, Benedict XVI, is in a stable situation that has even allowed him to participate in the celebration of a mass in his room. The spokesman for the Holy See, Matteo Bruni, expressed himself thus in a brief statement: “Last night the emeritus pope was able to rest well. Yesterday he even participated in the Holy Mass in his room. In the current state, his condition is stable.

Joseph Ratzinger’s health is very delicate. At 95 years old, every setback poses a risk to his life. And in the last few hours his health conditions had worsened, as Pope Francis implied, alarming the faithful and asking for a prayer because his predecessor was “very sick.” However, the words of the latest communiqués and the leaks emanating from the apartment where Benedict XVI resides in the convent of Mater Ecclesiae in the Vatican, are measured to the millimeter and suggest that, at this moment, he is not in a situation criticism.

The feeling of a certain communicative mismatch increases with the passing of the hours. And the first reports have been somewhat attenuated from Ratzinger’s environment, which he insists on adding adjectives and adverbs that reduce the criticality of his situation in each statement. The reality is that, given his advanced age, all scenarios are open and the Holy See is already preparing to open an unprecedented process in the history of the modern Church: the funeral of a pope emeritus. But Benedict XVI, if it weren’t for the pope’s words last Wednesday, would still not have all the media spotlights on illuminating the last days of his life.

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