THE VATICAN (AFP) -- Pope Francis said Wednesday that Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries, is “very ill” and urged people to pray for him.
The head of the worldwide Catholic Church later paid a visit to his 95-year-old predecessor at his home in a former convent inside the Vatican. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed Benedict’s health had worsened “in the last few hours” and said Francis had visited him after his audience.