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Joseph Ratzinger, the predecessor of Pope Francis, is seriously ill after returning to the Vatican from a visit to his country, Germany, the German newspaper Passauer Neuer Presse said today, citing the biographer of the former pontiff
Benedict XVI, 93, is very fragile and his voice is practically inaudible, said the author Peter Seewald to the newspaper, reports Agência Brasil. But at a meeting with Seewald on Saturday, the ex-Pope seemed optimistic and said he could return to writing if he regained his strength, the German newspaper reported.
Joseph Ratzinger traveled to Bavaria, where he was born, in June to make a final visit to his sick brother Georg Ratzinger, who was 96 and died shortly afterwards. It was former Pope Benedict XVI’s first trip outside Italy since 2013, the year he resigned from the pontificate. He was succeeded by the Argentine Jorge Bergoglio, the current Pope Francisco.
