OREANDA-NEWS. The retired Pope Benedict XVI, who abdicated in 2013, is seriously ill.

This was reported by the Bavarian newspaper Passauer Neue Presse, citing the biographer of the pontiff, Peter Seewald. According to him, after returning from a trip to Bavaria for the funeral of his brother Georg Ratzinger, who died on July 1 at the age of 96, 93-year-old Benedict XVI fell ill with erysipelas (an infectious disease caused by streptococci). The disease hurts the clergyman a lot, he can barely speak at times, but his mind and memory are still in perfect order, Seewald informed.

According to the biographer, Benedict XVI, whom he met on August 1, was optimistic; he said that he intends, to continue working on his memoirs when health permits. Previously, the Pope and Seewald published four books of interviews.