Ex-Pope Benedict is lucid and alert - Vatican

Ex-Pope Benedict XVI is "lucid and alert" but inactive successful a superior but unchangeable condition, the Vatican has said.

Pope Francis warned connected Wednesday that his 95-year-old predecessor was precise sick and appealed to everyone to commune for him.

The Vatican said connected Thursday that the erstwhile Pope "was capable to remainder good past night".

Benedict XVI became the archetypal person of the Catholic Church to basal down successful 600 years successful 2013, citing precocious age.

When helium was elected Pope successful 2005 astatine the property of 78 helium had earned a estimation arsenic a blimpish enforcer of Church doctrine.

Born Joseph Ratzinger, helium was the archetypal German Pope for 1,000 years, but his wellness was already successful diminution and wrong 8 years helium decided helium nary longer had the quality to fulfil his bureau properly.

After Pope Francis alerted the satellite to his predecessor's failing health, the Vatican enactment retired an archetypal connection confirming determination had been an "aggravation" owed to advancing age. In a further statement, connected Thursday, it said "although his information remains serious, the concern astatine the infinitesimal is stable".

The Pope visited Benedict connected Wednesday astatine the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, wrong the Vatican walls, and wherever helium has lived since helium stepped down. The erstwhile Pope is present nether the changeless supervision of doctors.

Little is known astir his information and Italian quality bureau Ansa quoted sources arsenic saying thing has changed successful the past 24 hours.

Benedict has lived astatine Mater Ecclesiae, a converted convent, since Francis was elected Pope successful March 2013.

Although helium had been suffering from mediocre health, his determination to resign came arsenic a astonishment arsenic nary pope had done truthful since Gregory XII successful 1415.

His papacy was marked by a ungraded involving kid intersexual maltreatment by priests. Two reports successful 2009 elaborate the grade of paedophilia and cover-ups wrong the Irish Church - and it aboriginal emerged that astir 400 priests had been defrocked by Benedict successful 2011 and 2012.

Earlier this twelvemonth the erstwhile Pope accepted that errors had been made successful handling intersexual maltreatment cases portion helium was Archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982.

A German enquiry commissioned by the Church recovered that helium had failed to enactment successful 4 cases. Benedict denied wrongdoing but asked forgiveness for immoderate "grievous fault".