Posted on 04/20/2005 2:12:39 PM PDT by prairiebreeze
VATICAN CITY Apr 20, 2005 — Pope Benedict XVI himself predicted a "short reign" in comments to cardinals just after his election, and his brother said Wednesday he was worried about the stress the job would put on the 78-year-old pontiff.
While there are no indications that Benedict currently suffers from any serious or chronic medical problems, there have been ailments in the past including a 1991 hemorrhagic stroke that raise questions about how long his pontificate will last.
The Vatican refused to comment Wednesday on Benedict's health, citing his privacy. The Vatican never officially confirmed Pope John Paul II suffered from Parkinson's disease until after he died.
Several cardinals, however, acknowledged that at 78, Benedict's term will be marked in years, not decades, and that he likely will not be the globe-trotting pope that John Paul became after taking the helm of the Roman Catholic Church at 58.
"We'll see what he feels like. I mean he's not a 56-year-old, you know," said British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. "He's a little bit older than that. So he may not do too much traveling. But you never know."
Benedict himself referred to his tenure in comments to cardinals just after his election, when he explained his choice of the name Benedict XVI, the pope who served from 1914-22 and had worked to prevent World War I during his brief papacy.
Chicago Cardinal Francis George said Ratzinger had told the cardinals, "I too hope in this short reign to be a man of peace."
While he has no apparent history of chronic health problems, the German was hospitalized at least twice in the early 1990s, including in September 1991 after he suffered a hemorrhagic stroke that temporarily affected his left field of vision, according to Time magazine and Vatican journalist John Allen in his 2000 book "Cardinal Ratzinger." There is no indication that it left any lingering health difficulties.
A hemorrhagic stroke can be caused by many things, including high blood pressure, head injury or weak blood vessels that can burst. It is different from an ischemic stroke, which is caused by a blockage in the blood vessels leading to brain.
In August 1992, during a vacation in the Italian Alps, Ratzinger was knocked unconscious when he fell against a radiator and bled profusely, Time and the Italian news agency ANSA reported at the time.
Time quoted him as saying a year later: "Thank God, there are hardly any traces of it now."
German prelates have expressed concern about Ratzinger's health. One young priest from Cologne, who asked not to be identified, told AP in Rome that Benedict has trouble sleeping and has a "delicate constitution." The new pope's brother had expressed a similar concern in a television interview.
Benedict's brother, Georg Ratzinger, told The Associated Press on Wednesday from Regensburg, Germany, that he was concerned about his brother's health and the stress the office will put on him.
"I'm not very happy," Georg Ratzinger said. "He's OK, and his health is good. I just wish for him, that his health holds out and that his office isn't a worry and a nuisance to him."
Ratzinger, the oldest pope elected since Clement XII in 1730, clearly was chosen as a "transitional" pope, who would fulfill the unfinished business of John Paul's quarter-century papacy yet not be another long-term pope.
Yet in electing someone who had repeatedly asked John Paul to let him retire and been refused there was also the possibility that the world would watch another pope slowly succumb to age and ailments on a very public stage. Benedict was the oldest pontiff elected in 275 years.
"Obviously he's 78 so he's not going to have decades ahead of him, but he has a lot of zeal and energy, and he has already committed himself fully to the work ahead of him," Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony told CNN.
Thomas Frauenlob, director of St. Michael's seminary in Traunstein where the pope studied as a youth and still visits annually, said he had never heard of any major ailments.
"He seems healthy," said Frauenlob, who last saw him over the New Year's holiday. "He comes and eats and drinks whatever he wants."
Ghouls....
His being 78 years old gets their hopes up.
That didn't take long to put him on media death watch.
It doesn't matter much how long he serves (as long as it's longer than JPI!), it's how he uses the time.
May God grant him wisdom, stamina(!) and vigorous health until his time is due.
In other words, the man hasn't been seriously ill since 1991, but the Left can always hope.
The important thing is that Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan and Nelson Mandella are disappointed.
"That didn't take long to put him on media death watch."
Yeah really!
He's pretty spry for 78. Bush made a good pick IMO.
I'd have to assume the voting Cardinals knew what they were doing and what his condition was.
Karl Rove was Ratzinger's campaign manager don'cha know?
My German Grandma & Grandpa both lived to 99.
Long serve Pope Benedict XVI.
"Ratzinger had told the cardinals, "I too hope in this short reign to be a man of peace."
He probably meant "short" in comparison to JP2's 26+ years.
My German mother lived to 94. ~With all her faculties intact until she died.
She was Bavarian, too!
Exactly. God grant him many years!
Interesting that the AP didn't bother to state that the Pope's only brother Georg is also a priest, even though they mention him several times in the article.
Just calling him Georg, instead of Father Georg, seems a bit disrespectful.
And so the death watch commences....
may our Holy Father live in good health to be 120.
The most poignant thing in this whole process, to me, is that little room they get dressed in before they come out on the balcony. The Room of Tears.
Sounds distrubingly similar to RUSH's prediction 5seconds after it was announced.
That is his idea that the media would try to paint him as a "holding pattern" pope, only a temporary stopgap to liberalizing the chruch.
Sounds like he was right... again
Someone who is up on the the church's interpretation of the Book of Revelations told me that this Papacy would be brief, and the next one would be the last. Is there a theory out there on this???
Benedict XVI will serve well until his time comes, as it will for all of us.
Of course then you have the Call to Action folks who are dying off or (formally, finally) leaving the Church, with those remaining wringing their hands as they begin to realize that their schemes didn't succeed under John Paul II, will not succeed under Pope Benedict XVI nor under his successor as the college of Cardinals only gets more conservative with time.
They've just added him to the list with Dick Cheney, Denny Hastert, etc. They just took Henry Hyde off the list, now that he's announced his retirement. The Left is so transparent.
Far too many, and I don't believe a one of 'em.
The libs are just praying that his is a short run. I'm praying that he has a good, long reign and that the cardinals pick someone even more conservative after him. ;O)
Yep.
I stayed up last night to watch CNN's televised interviews
with six or seven of our American Cardinals.
If you think Mahoney is uttering praises... you should have
heard McCommick words of adoration and respect... all of
which I hope he meant. For reasonss unbeknowst to me, I
actually think McCommick was talking sincerely. Amazing, huh?
The cardinals elect the pope, but the pope appoints the cardinals and bishops. JP II appointed all but two of the cardinals who voted in the conclave, and they chose a traditionalist. You can be sure that Pope Benedict will have accumulated a long list of good people to install in any vacancies that might appear during his tenure, which means there will be even fewer leftist cardinals voting at the next conclave
The average reign of popes, including interregnum, is about 7.5 years.
Pope Benedict XV was elected pope on Sept. 3, 1914, about a month after the First World War began, so he wasn't in a position to try to "prevent" the war.
Since 1700 the average reign has been about 14 years. The last pope elected at the age of 78 reigned for 9 1/2 years.
McCarrick and Mahony defy my understanding, in different ways.
I hear ya, but it was Detroit's cardinal who irked me last night.
What's with him?
My German-heritage grandpa lived to 94. The MSM might as well stop celebrating. ;)
Maida? He's generally okay, on a scale ..... although usually acts a couple years after he needs to. Had to be dragged kicking and screaming into letting people celebrate Latin Mass. My theory is he needs better influences in his life and then he'd be pretty good. Instead he's surrounded by heretics like Bishop Gumbleton. Michigan seems to rival Upstate NY for liberalism.
You can say THAT again!
hehee!
I hope he lives to be 100.
Yessirree. Good post bump!
Yes, Maida. I didn't much like his remarks.
Something about "Benedetto's" shortcomings.
Like we need one of our own chiming in with
the bashers.
Great point. Obviously, Benedict's strengths outweighed any potential downside to his age.
And after all, these days, 90 is very possible. I just pray he stays strong up til the end. JPII went out quite well, just 5 weeks after the surgery. His weakness prior to that time did not materially affect him, IMO.
Jesus died in his thirties.
Yes, he did. And your point is..?
The cardinals would do well to research another guy of suitable stature with an eye to availability in the 2010-2015 time frame. Or Ratzinger himself could target a protege. The age of this man doesn't bode very optimistic for an extended reign.
What does Ratzinger think about this Malachy stuff himself? Enough to start thinking about who the next guy ought to be in order to head off the "problem," and dropping strong hints? I am not sure it is good to give in to an extrabiblical prophecy, which might be from the devil rather than God.
All we know know for sure is that the forces of evil are arraying against the new Pope. Where that leads is very unclear.
Well, since I happen to believe the Holy Spirit is at work in these things, I tend to put my trust with God.
My point is that longevity is no indicator of accomplishment.
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