Big brother feared for health of frail Pope
VATICAN CITY: When Georg Ratzinger, a priest, heard that his brother Joseph had been elected Pope, he felt no joy: he was too concerned about the mental and physical strain that being Pope Benedict XVI would impose on a man whose health was already frail.
Georg’s disclosure, in a memoir published last week, has compounded anxiety about the health of the Pope, who will celebrate his 85th birthday a week tomorrow. He is the oldest pontiff for more than a century.
After a gruelling trip to Mexico and Cuba, the heavy Easter schedule clearly weighed on the Pope who looked tired as he stood before 20,000 faithful at the traditional procession of the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) around the Colosseum in Rome on Good Friday.
In a further sign he is feeling drained, Benedict celebrated Easter Eve mass in St Peter’s Basilica at 9 o’clock last night instead of at midnight.
In My Brother the Pope, published in Italy, Georg, 88, writes: ‘‘To be honest, I have to say that at that moment [his election in 2005] I felt crestfallen, dispiri- ted. For him it was a big challenge, a taxing commitment, and I was seriously worried. I didn’t think of the honours or the positive aspects, but only of the toil and the burden which that responsibility meant for my brother.’’ .
His concern about Benedict, the oldest Pope since Leo XII, who died in 1903 at the age of 93, was understandable. He is believed to have had a heart operation while still a cardinal. Shortly after his election, Benedict set up a medical unit in his private apartment in the Apostolic Palace.
Caroline Pigozzi, the author of a book of interviews with cardinals entitled The Red Robes, said the Pope was ‘‘very concerned’’ about his own state of health.
‘‘Benedict’s heart condition means that he doesn’t go on many trips. When he does, he keeps them very short and a cardiologist always accompanies him,’’ she said.
According to Pigozzi, the Pope suffers from an irregular heartbeat, breathlessness, chronic fatigue and drops in blood pressure. His doctors are treating him with anticoagulants.
Father Federico Lombardi, the Pope’s spokesman, insisted he was ‘‘in fantastic condition’’ but he often looked frail and unsteady during his trip to Mexico and Cuba last month. A source close to the Vatican claimed the Pope suffered from atrial fibrillation, one of the most common forms of abnormal heart rhythm and a big cause of strokes.
Marco Politi, author of Joseph Ratzinger: A Papacy in Crisis, said the Pope had suffered two minor strokes when he was a cardinal. ‘‘Benedict gets tired very quickly, so he often looks exhausted.’’
The Pope also has a painful right leg and has taken to using a walking stick in his apartment. He was seen using it for the first time in public last month at Fiumicino airport in Rome as he made his way from his helicopter to the plane for his flight to Mexico.
In an interview, Michael Hesemann, who co-wrote Georg Ratzinger’s book, said a papal resignation was still far away. ‘‘The Pope has a very healthy, very regular lifestyle. He’s sometimes exhausted but he’s able to recover very quickly.’’