VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI seems worn out.
People who have spent time with him recently say they found him weaker than they’d ever seen him, seemingly too tired to engage with what they were saying. He no longer meets individually with visiting bishops. A few weeks ago, he started using a moving platform to spare him the long walk down St. Peter’s Basilica.
Benedict turns 85 in the new year, so a slowdown is only natural. Expected. And given his age and continued rigorous work schedule, it’s remarkable he does as much as he does and is in such good health overall: Just this past week, he confirmed he would travel to Mexico and Cuba in the spring.
But a decline has been noted as Benedict prepares for next weekend’s grueling Christmas celebrations, which kick off two weeks of intense public appearances. That raises questions about the future of the papacy given that Benedict himself has said popes should resign if they can’t do the job.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi has said no medical condition prompted the decision to use the moving platform in St. Peter’s, and that it’s merely designed to spare the pontiff the fatigue of the 100-yard walk to and from the main altar.
And Benedict rallied during his three-day trip to Benin in west Africa last month, braving temperatures of 90 degrees and high humidity to deliver a message about the future of the Catholic Church in Africa.
Wiping sweat from his brow, he kissed babies who were handed up to him, delivered a tough speech on the need for Africa’s political leaders to clean up their act, and visited one of the continent’s most important seminaries.
Back at home, however, it seems the daily grind of being pope — the audiences with visiting heads of state and the weekly public catechism lessons — has taken its toll.
Take for example his recent visit to Assisi, where he traveled by train with dozens of religious leaders for a day-long peace pilgrimage.
“Indeed I was struck by what appeared to me as the decline in Benedict’s strength and health over the last half year,” said Rabbi David Rosen, who had a place of honor next to the pope at the Assisi event as head of interfaith relations at the American Jewish Committee.
Benedict said in the book “Light of the World,” which was released in November 2010, that he knew his own strength was diminishing. But at the same time, he insisted that he had no intention of resigning to avoid dealing with the problems of the church.
