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Vatican Reporter Reveals Exclusive Details On Benedict XVI's Failing Health

Signs of decline began to appear two years ago, leading the Pope's doctor to insist on limited air travel. Portrait of an old and weak man, who may have had little choice but resignation.

Benedict XVI celebrating mass in Fatima in 2010. His health would soon after start to decline.
Benedict XVI celebrating mass in Fatima in 2010. His health would soon after start to decline.
Marco Tosatti

VATICAN CITY- There’s a lot of talk of intrigue and scandals since Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation. Anything is possible, of course. But in the last few days I’ve looked back on the information I'd collected over the last few months and years on the state of the Pope’s health, gathered from those who are close to him. I had vowed to keep all the details confidential, to not reveal anything while Benedict still held his position.

His resignation announcement has freed me of these promises, and in examining my notes, a portrait appears of a man with a progressive deterioration of health and energy; a state that fully justifies the difficult decision that Benedict has taken.

A note from two years ago reads:

“The pope isn’t able to sleep at night and he refuses to take any sedatives. Because of this, he often appears tired. And those who love him insist that in the afternoons, no appointments or meetings can be organized before 5 pm, so that he is able to rest a little, especially during trips.

But, his appointments pile up quickly after lunch, at 3:30 and so on. His personal physician, Dr. Patrizio Polisca says that he can go on, if he keeps calm and manages it well, especially if he keeps his blood pressure under control. The blood pressure, at the moment, is the main problem because it was having strong fluctuations. Dr. Polisca said most of all be careful of the airplanes. He insists that he spends as little time as possible on planes, because that's where the risks come from.”

And in effect, the Pontiff expressively said that the trip scheduled July 2013 to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for World Youth Day would not be happening.

Again, from two years ago:

“Another problem, during the trips he falls out of bed if it is too small. In Val d’Aosta, when he broke his wrist, it was because he had fallen out of the bed. When he was in Malta they prepared an incredible room for him, full of beautiful art and furniture, with a Napoleonic bed and a canopy which was incredibly beautiful, but really very narrow. He couldn’t close his eyes for the entire night because he was so scared of falling out. The following morning, during mass, he was sleeping and one of the assistants had to wake him up, touching his arm. “I didn’t close my eyes once last night,” Benedict XVI said to him offering an excuse.

Benedict’s biographer, Peter Seewald, confirmed very recently what I found out 18 months ago: “He confirmed that from one eye, his left, he has almost lost all vision in it which creates problems when there are steps, particularly when there are solemn masses when he must turn around to the altar with the incense.”

“He tires very quickly.” This is the statement so often repeated. “He has an enormous difficulty getting up in the morning; sometimes he sleeps for nine hours at a stretch because he needs to rest.”

From last summer and this past autumn: he began to “feel week and he says it now whereas before, he wouldn’t even mention it.” He uses the walking stick at home as well, because his right hip and ankle pain him.

They probably give him occasional (shots of) cortisone to help alleviate the pain. But as well as that, those who are with him during the afternoons see that he doesn’t go for walks to see the new flowers planted by the gardeners like he used to. Now, he just takes a few steps and sits on a nearby bench as if he doesn’t have the energy, or even the curiosity, to go and have a look.

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Society

What's Spoiling The Kids: The Big Tech v. Bad Parenting Debate

Without an extended family network, modern parents have sought to raise happy kids in a "hostile" world. It's a tall order, when youngsters absorb the fears (and devices) around them like a sponge.

Image of a kid wearing a blue striped sweater, using an ipad.

Children exposed to technology at a very young age are prominent today.

Julián de Zubiría Samper

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ — A 2021 report from the United States (the Youth Risk Behavior Survey) found that 42% of the country's high-school students persistently felt sad and 22% had thought about suicide. In other words, almost half of the country's young people are living in despair and a fifth of them have thought about killing themselves.

Such chilling figures are unprecedented in history. Many have suggested that this might be the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but sadly, we can see depression has deeper causes, and the pandemic merely illustrated its complexity.

I have written before on possible links between severe depression and the time young people spend on social media. But this is just one aspect of the problem. Today, young people suffer frequent and intense emotional crises, and not just for all the hours spent staring at a screen. Another, possibly more important cause may lie in changes to the family composition and authority patterns at home.

Firstly: Families today have fewer members, who communicate less among themselves.

Young people marry at a later age, have fewer children and many opt for personal projects and pets instead of having children. Families are more diverse and flexible. In many countries, the number of children per woman is close to or less than one (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong among others).

In Colombia, women have on average 1.9 children, compared to 7.6 in 1970. Worldwide, women aged 15 to 49 years have on average 2.4 children, or half the average figure for 1970. The changes are much more pronounced in cities and among middle and upper-income groups.

Of further concern today is the decline in communication time at home, notably between parents and children. This is difficult to quantify, but reasons may include fewer household members, pervasive use of screens, mothers going to work, microwave ovens that have eliminated family cooking and meals and, thanks to new technologies, an increase in time spent on work, even at home. Our society is addicted to work and devotes little time to minors.

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