How good is the Pope's health?

For a man who will be 85 in April 2012, and who has quite the busy schedule, Benedict XVI is doing well. But he is not, of course, as vigorous and busy as he was a few years ago. An Associated Press piece, "Pope heads into busy Christmas season tired, weak", contains a sprinkling of information, a dash or two of rumor, and a cup or three of speculation, with several references to the "r" word:

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi has said no medical condition prompted the decision to use the moving platform in St. Peter's, and that it's merely designed to spare the pontiff the fatigue of the 100-meter (-yard) walk to and from the main altar.

And Benedict rallied during his three-day trip to Benin in west Africa last month, braving temperatures of 32 Celsius (90F) and high humidity to deliver a strong message about the future of the Catholic Church in Africa.

Wiping sweat from his brow, he kissed babies who were handed up to him, delivered a tough speech on the need for Africa's political leaders to clean up their act, and visited one of the continent's most important seminaries.

Back at home, however, it seems the daily grind of being pope - the audiences with visiting heads of state, the weekly public catechism lessons, the sessions with visiting bishops - has taken its toll. A spark is gone. He doesn't elaborate off-the-cuff much anymore, and some days he just seems wiped out.

Take for example his recent visit to Assisi, where he traveled by train with dozens of religious leaders from around the world for a daylong peace pilgrimage. For anyone participating it was a tough, long day; for the aging pope it was even more so. ...

Yet Benedict himself raised the possibility of resigning if he were simply too old or sick to continue on, when he was interviewed for the book "Light of the World," which was released in November 2010.

"If a pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign," Benedict said. ...

Benedict said in "Light of the World" that he knew his own strength was diminishing - steps are difficult for him and his aides regularly hold his elbows as he climbs up or down. But at the same time Benedict insisted that he had no intention of resigning to avoid dealing with the problems of the church, such as the sex abuse scandal.

"One can resign at a peaceful moment or when one simply cannot go on. But one must not run away from danger and say that someone else should do it," he said.

As a result, a papal resignation anytime soon seems unlikely.

Read the entire piece.

UPDATE (Dec. 19, 2011): Phil Lawler of CatholicCulture.org has written a good piece, "The headlines say we should be worried about the Pope's health. Why?", about the recent spate of news pieces about Benedict XVI's health.

Comments

[Howard]

It sounds like some wishful thinking from someone who believes in that peculiar superstition, "The Next Pope". "The Next Pope", of course, will be a woman, and she will embrace contraception, abortion, and the whole LGBT spectrum of sexualities. She will quite possibly marry the next Dali Lama, especially if that person also turns out to be a woman.

I'm not superstitious enough to believe in "The Next Pope".

[Ed Peters]

I'm not hearing a lot of chatter about the "next pope", not nearly like I did when JP2 approached his end six years ago. It's as if the 'progressives' have given up 'hope' that the next pope will be any 'better'. I'm happy not to listen to it.

That said, I find the recurring papal medical watch grounds for mucho chuckle. I heard a great one the other day: "The pope is always in excellent health until he dies after a long illness."