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AFP - Getty Images, file
Pope Benedict XVI wears a sombrero during his visit to Leon, Mexico, on March 25, 2012. The Vatican has revealed that he hit his head during the trip.
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI hit his head during his March 2012 trip to Mexico, the Vatican said Thursday, but it denied the accident had any "relevant" role in his resignation.
It was the latest revelation of a hidden health issue to emerge from the Holy See since the pope's shock announcement, and adds to questions about the gravity of the pontiff's condition.
On Tuesday, the Vatican said for the first time that Benedict has a pacemaker, and that he had its batteries replaced just three months ago.
Italy's La Stampa newspaper reported Thursday that Benedict hit his head and bled when he got up in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar bedroom in Leon, Mexico. The report said blood stained his hair and sheets.
Although it reportedly had no impact on his decision to abdicate, Pope Benedict fell and cut his head while on a trip to Mexico in 2012 – another indication of his health difficulties. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi confirmed the incident but said "it was not relevant for the trip, in that it didn't affect it, nor in the decision" to resign.
Physically exhausting trip
Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reported earlier in the week that Benedict had taken the decision to resign after the Mexico-Cuba trip, which was physically exhausting for the 85-year-old pope.
Earlier Thursday, Benedict held a 45-minute, off-the-cuff reminiscence about the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, blaming the media for what he called its distorted interpretation of the church meetings at the time for many "calamities" that plague the Catholic Church today.
It was the second day in a row that Benedict has sent very pointed messages to his successor and the cardinals who will elect him about the direction the church must take once he is no longer pope.
While his farewell remarks on Wednesday were in many ways bittersweet, Benedict was more combative on Thursday as he addressed an audience hall full of thousands of priests.
In a moving Ash Wednesday mass attended by thousands, Pope Benedict gave his final public mass and is now preparing to meet with the pastors of Rome's parishes. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
Benedict was a young theological expert at Vatican II, the 1962-65 meetings that brought the Catholic Church into the modern world with important documents on the church's relations with other religions, its place in the world and the liturgy.
Benedict has spent much of his eight-year pontificate seeking to correct what he considers the misinterpretation of Vatican II, insisting that it wasn't a revolutionary break from the past, as liberal Catholics paint it, but a renewal and reawakening of the best traditions of the ancient church.
He nailed that point home on Thursday, blaming botched media reporting of the council's deliberations for having reduced the work to "political power struggles between various currents in the church."
Because the media's interpretation was dominant and "accessible to all," it fueled the popular understanding of what the council was all about, he said.
That led in the years that followed to "so many calamities, so many problems, really so many miseries: Seminaries that closed, convents that closed, the liturgy that was banalized."
In what will be one of his final public remarks as pope, Benedict said he hoped the "true council" will one day be understood.
Related:
The $8 billion global institution where nuns answer the phones
Tears and a standing ovation as Benedict celebrates last public Mass as pope
Vatican history of 'cover-ups and disarray' will challenge new pope
Leave a Comment:
The Vatican isn't going to use the Hillary, "I hit my head", excuse on this one?
Please hit your head. Please.
Maybe he shouldn't have had all those tequila shooters.....look at him, he looks like he's having a blast......Spring Break, yeaaaahhhhh!!
Guys, guys! I hit my head and now I have amnesia!
I've got to get these llamas...to school!
How do I get there?! Quiiiiiick!!!!!!!!
It's the media's fault. Hmmm. Maybe Catholicism and Scientology have more in common than I realized....
That's right. Blame it on the media. If the Vatican wants its Medieval bat poop better understood by the world, then it needs to stop living in a state of secrecy and outdated morals. Better yet, its followers would best be served by applying some critical thinking toward this ridiculous institution.
I dont think it was the media so much as the hundreds of cases of child rape that were covered up. Yeah, thats why people are turning from the church mr Pope.
@BD
Exactly which morals are outdated?
Maybe the pope should decree that all future popes must wear crash helmets and body armor. Maybe they can just run their corrupt church without a pope, since the cardinals all seem to have most of the power anyway.
"It's the media's fault that so many calamities happened within the church". So it was the evil media that made priests sexually assault little boys? I'm not buying that for even a nanosecond.
Nor should you buy it. However, many studies have been made, some by people or institutions which have no love for the CC, which have found that while there has, indeed, been abuse of children by Catholic priests, percentagewise, it has been no greater than the percentages among other groups; family & family friends, neighbors, teachers, scouts, sports and Protestant and Jewish clergy who ARE allowed to marry. (I know of no studies of Muslim clergy. However, I suspect that the percentage of Muslim abusers are about as common and about as uncommon as in other groups. That's just a guess on my part, of course, but I believe it to be an educated guess, based on the performance of others in a position of trust. Of course, it was not the evil media, which made those priests who are guilty of assault of little boys do what they did. It is the evil media, however, which continues to lie about the steps the Church has taken recently to address the abuse, past and present.
http://www.themediareport.com/fast-facts/
Its not the abuse that pisses people off. Its the cover ups that everyone seemed to join in on. If they ousted the few child rapists from their church, it would not have been as big a deal. They chose their image over children.
He is more than old enough to retire without any questions being asked. Goodness, why is any of his health issues anyone's business? At that age we will all have health issues.
Let's see....hmmm...the Queen of the Netherlands resigns and two weeks later the Pope resigns.....could it be they have a thing going on?
He's younger than my grandmother and she's in a million times better shape than he is. Actually, she would make a better pope, as she is a very devout Catholic, but actually understands what Pope John XXIII was trying to do with VC II, which Benedict apparently doesn't and is trying to rewrite it.
Sorry, I know this off topic, but it can't be forgotten that:
Cardinal Mahony, a publically rebuked churchman for his pedophile scandal coverup is being allowed the opportunity for the "Holy Spirit" to pick him as the next pope. Let that detonate in your brain.
A child's point of view: "I was raped, my bottom is sore, my innocence is stolen and the person who covered up my crime is now having the chance at the top position in his profession."
This is the lasting legacy of Benedict for me: tone deaf to child rape and protector of pedophiles.
This is not a civilized religion either historically (when they simply murdered those who got in their way) or currently (they don't defrock priests who rape deaf babies).
Nominal Catholics should do the moral thing and disassociate themselves from this religio-Industrial Complex and throw their money and good works to organizations that don't cover up child rape.
Like what the Boy Scouts....Hmmmm
WeAllHaveOpinions,
Please don't try to defend, in a backhanded way, what is indefensible. May I suggest prayerful silence?
This is the legacy of all popes throughout History... Do you think this is a new problem? No way! It is ancient, just that in the past you never talked about it.
Curiously enough nobody talks about the unconditional protection provided by John Paul II to Marcial Maciel... who, by the way was "punished" by Benedict (i.e. scolded and sent to a very pleasant retirement).
Benedict has not been worse than any before him... nor better either.
Fair enough considering some of these priests that have died in a cushy retirement were in practicing when Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, and JPI&2 were at the helm.
So yeah, you could be right that at least six popes have plausible implications in covering up the raping and molestation of children.
The more I think about it, I am concerned that infants left alone (for baptism) may have been abused too. Pedophiles are known to molest newborns even and of course, newborns can't yell for help.
I am sure there are Catholics reading this who think we are being hyperbolic, but the fact remains. With their KNOWN history, all these things are plausible.
Pure evil.
Atheist <<<~~~ ~~~ >>> In recent years the Catholic Church has defrocked MANY priests who have been found to have raped little children. One of them was my own pastor, although not even the children claimed the abuse went so far as actual rape. Nor did the parents.
Matilda,
May I suggest prayerful silence instead of a backhanded defense of the indefensible? While in prayerful silence, also feel free to stay on topic and research the priest I mentioned. The one who raped deaf babies. He was not defrocked.
Atheist,
Just so you know, any Catholic can technically become the Pope, that is why he is could potentially become Pope. Yet the process weeds people like him out. I hate what the church has done, but at least attack it for real offenses.
MrBurns,
By that logic, if Adolph Hitler was alive (a baptised Catholic) then he too could have the opportunity to be pope. But forget Hitler right now.
The lesson here, Hans, is that being a known pedophile protector is NOT an automatic disqualification for Conclave. But Hans, a Cardinal who talks to reporters while in Conclave is immediately excommunicated.
That you don't grasp the lunacy here is concerning. If you finally do understand the evil here, pass your new found understanding on to your fellow Catholics who keep hauling out this tripe as if it was a worthy argument to consider.
Who gives a F@$K if he did.....Anyone who hoards Nazi gold and stuff belonging to the Jews...OR even gives refuge to the Nazi's....AND molests little boys? I could give a rat's ass if the SOB'S head FELL OFF! (And yes, I WAS a 'semi-brainwashed 'RC' for many years....and then? I SAW THE LIGHT!") haha From what I heard yesterday, the Vatican is being sued and he's being charged...OR his successor will...for crimes against humanity...as they ALL should be. So, I'd say the poor SOB 'chosen' to follow him will probably be one UNWILLING Pope! lol
With you all the way Lucy, although I was 100% brainwashed! Time for this cult to be dismantled.
Just this?
wellaware1 dot com finally exposed this fraud known as pope and he resigned. Go figure . . .
May the Pope enjoy his retirement.
He protected pedophiles and oppressed women...may karma bite his dogma in the ass!
This man did more to harm the church then any Pope in the past 100 years. Good riddance. I come from a parish that used to be two seperate parishes and each parish always had two priests. Now, they share two priests. However, one is retired - sort of - and is 90+ years old. His Mass lasts forever and his sermons are nonsensical ramblings of a man with dementia. The pastor, in his late 60's, also serves another parish in a small village of 5000.
The laws concerning celibacy are man made laws that go back to the 1400-1500's to thwart nepotism in doling out titles of Bishop or Monsignor to the Cardinal's own 10, 11, and 12 year old sons. Also, after The Schism that had a lot to do with married people's right to divorce, the Catholic Church, the largest real estate holder in the world, and one of the richest entities in the world, was not about to give up money or property in settlement to wives wishing to divorce their priest husbands.
It is way past time to have married priests, and God forbid, women in the priesthood.
I also grew up Catholic and went to parochial schools that often had two children from the same family in the same grade as a result of the "rhythm method." There were families with upward of 13, 14, or 15 children. They were so poor that both parents worked full time jobs and part time jobs and the older children were left with maintaining the home and raising their syblings. It is cruel to force new children into a life of poverty and want. Birth control is humane. Pharmaceuticals and prophylactics that prevent conception should be allowed and the Church can still maintain a moral stance on "morning after drugs" and abortion.
I hope and pray that the liberal faction of the Church has forced this Pope's hand and realizes that The Church is dying.
Wow. Thank you for sharing. Obviously, being a person of no faith in the USA, I tend to get written off as spawn of Satan or some other nonsense. Reasonable citizens need more people like you to share their experiences. I agree with you that in many countrys the Catholic Church is on life support. Not so in Africa.
Big Faith is mainly a developing world scourge now.
BrownsFan...I fully understand you, and if you think for a second that liberal American Catholics are going to EVER have ANY say in church doctrine, you are more brainwashed than you realize. Cut and run now. There will be no birth control, no women's rights, no married priests. The church is like a stubborn, petulant child, clinging to the ways of the 15th century. It will disintegrate before it joins the 21st century. From what you've said, it sounds like you would fit right in with the Episcopals. They are very similar to the Catholics without the politics.
I spout this a lot but still holds true. God made faith, man made religion. The Catholic church like all the rest believe in their own propaganda that they are the one true faith, when all normal people know that that's a whole lot of horse hockey. God doesn't care how you pray, he just cares how you treat other people.
The Catholic church has had as Atheist-6939529 mentioned a whole lot of so called religious people who don't care about anybody but themselves just like every other religion.
It's ok to believe in a god to explain the things we can not explain, but to believe any book written or human speech to be the "word of god" is what gets us into trouble every time.
He has a lifetime supply of Pope-soap-on-a-rope. That is why he quit.
he is moving to a convent so he can play pope on a rope
the question now is does the Italian authorities have the balls to do what is right and arrest and charge him with the crimes he commited against children during and before his time as pope. He did everything in his power than and now to protect the clergy and hide the abuse from the world.
Gordon...Italian authorities have no jurisdiction in Vatican City. It is a sovereign nation.
And a sure fire way to piss off the over Billion Catholics out there would be to arrest a former Pope. Nothing is gunna happen to him, but we can remember him for his evil deeds.
He is resigning because of of the many sexual assaults of children cover-ups.
I could respect that.
But alas, there is no evidence I'm aware of that people so heavily involved in pedophilia or who are pathological liars are good candidates for conversion.
the 3rd fatima prophecy has now come to pass. the pope resigning in disgrace due to his connections with children sexual abuse. the catholic church is in freefall. before this man was pope, he covered up many of the priests who commited sexual rape of a child. he would move the rapist priest to another, distant parrish, and hope it wouldn't happen again. guess what? it did. this man will answer to god, along with all the other pedophiles in the church. a reckoning is coming.
I don't throw this word around a lot, but you are a disgusting racist.
I really doubt that someone who can't spell "parish" and does not capitalize "God" knows jack about the Fatima prophecies.
michael - I agree that if robert misspelled parish (not mis typed) could bring intelligence into question, but many people choose not to use a "G" when typiing god by specific choice, as a way of demonstarting a lack of belief.
ECF2222,
With how you used it, I'm going to assume that you do throw that word around a lot.
We know the pope didn't quit because of a bump on the head. He quit because of too many bumps in the road! You can't cover up bumps; they need more specialized attention.
Who cares as long as he goes the hell away. This isn't news! it is the internal machinations of a midievil cult
Power seeking Power steps over all.
The Pope, another strict constitutionalist Vatican II, 2nd Amendment, wishing only to remake the world into their own image.
When you have that much wrong it is only necessary that you have as many misinformed believers as possible having the deepest unshakable faith, without any information from the senses.
Tending toward empiricism per Francis Bacon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism) and apply it to the organizations of Power, reveals the 'modern world' strategy. To keep the faithful by all means, and to flood the world with the sort information that is false, fake or just plain made up.
First, ten thousand hard fought truths, vetted, documented, peer reviewed, in the public domain, formed into repeatable experiments, and performed by children in the kitchen sink - plain for all to see. All that needs to done take a new information technology and populate it by phraseology from artificial think tanks (artificial ideas), then collect all the existing ideas and for each one create a plausible mish-mash of hyper shortened phrases, and then seek news outlets far beyond the street corner pamphleteer. Those ten thousand hard fought truths are to be buried under ten billion half formed, misshapen, gnarled, twisted, sweet tempting untruths and readied as treats in the cookie jar.
In modern times information is the anti-information, you have ten truths and you have a million untruths arrayed against you, with all the clarity of a single peep against a vast wet swamp on warm spring day filled by the countless peeping choruses of frogs - The goal confusion.
In historical times information was controlled, kept in volumes in the scriptorium, aided by introspective scholarship, that put stroke upon stoke, reference to references, numbers to fragments, to produce an archive vast enough to scare viewers in to acceptance, yet so vast that no one human could have mastered its intimidating weight. So large and detailed this introspective could only be done by support from the organization, the introspective organization that turned aside every new idea, not supported by scripture, and cannon - The goal ignorance.
Modern science was accidently founded by religious orders, Ussher. And is tied to the scholarship methods of historical note, but the few and plainness of its arguments, and that need to start always from smaller fundamentals and performed anew by each generation of scientists. Soon ten thousand facts are known, but hidden in journals and publications, with rare public demonstration and few public reminders and no ceremonies.
Today scientific archives have gate keepers, as the modern world is reduced to dollars; will the starving poor begging not for food for the empty stomach but for dollars. Dollars dominate, and with that any one and anything can be purchased.
Think for a conservative minute, if new facts can be made without containing truth, and can be given legs, by the latest technology, then with the almighty dollar, a political operative and schemer could arrange for the cash to purchase any truth, cash for ideas, cash for tactics, and so forth.
But think, a world where no original thought is needed and any needed thought can be purchased, developed, marketed and embedded Sub Rosa in advertisement, distraction and legislations. Because such is the case, the public has been reduced to informed ignorance (Ignoratio elenchi) {Ingnoration}.
We think of ignorance as a little thing easily seen and self-correcting, but ignorance can be purchased, advertised and engrained, ignorance is a pliant universal antidote to empirical truth. When used as a weapon manufactured ignorance rivals the disordering power of a super nova.
Being ruled by purchasable ignorance is not free enterprise or free-anything else.
To any and all - quote a real encyclopedia when stating what one believes is fact. Wikipedia is written by humans with an ax to grind or no ax. However, it is not credible. Leave it out of any argument.
From an American Episcopalian: I wish the Pope a peaceful retirement.
Our pope is too much of a gentleman to say it plainly, but here it is- his health problems make it impossible for him to do daily battle with the liberal dissident morons who run many Catholic colleges, hospitals, convents, and have even inflitrated the Vatican itself. From the moment he was elected until now, jealous old farts from the progressive camp have launched a war of passive-aggressive resistance that have made Benedict's life hell. They will no doubt be surprised when he hands off the job to a man cut from the same cloth but young enough to continue his reform program for many more decades.
I guess your definition of gentleman means allowing Cardinal Roger Mahony to have a shot at the top job in the coming papal election even though Mahony has been publically rebuked by his peers for covering up pedophile crimes.
Child's point of view: I lost my innocence and the person in charge is up for a potential promotion.
Stop the planet so this "gentleman" can get off.
I would have guessed Jesus was a liberal
And you have guessed wrong. Jesus was not for stealing from someone to give to the lazy. Not to mention, republicans donate way more money than democrats on average, and are poorer on average.
The Catholic Church has made a fortune on the blood and suffering of many. Throughout history they have preyed on the weak minded, the poor and the disenfranchised, not to mention the young and the innocent and all we get are apologies, no real admission of guilt, under the table payouts to the victims if their even considered. An institution that has far outlived its usefulness and should be abolished from the top down. I am thankful that many of my family members left the church many years ago and organized religion in general. Organized religion is one of the biggest scams ever perpetrated on mankind. We are all witness to what religious zealotry has done to the world especially in the Middle East. Too many attrocities committed in the name of religious belief systems.
Jesus says,it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter heaven--if this is true,and if God's a conservative as the
GOP,the religious and political right,and the Media say,all of them should be
for a redistribution of wealth,and to stop with helping the rich so it trickles
down to the poor,even be for raising the minimum wage,so that more of the rich
can enter heaven.Yet most of them are against it all.That's why the Bible says
the love of money is the root of all evil (1Timothy 6:10).
Do you know what the needle is that they are referring to? Probably not since your economic ignorance implies ignorance in other areas as well. A needle was a special pen used to keep camels in. In order to get a camel out of the pen, it would normally take two people to push the camel down to a praying position then slide it through. It was hard, but more like a tough farming job than an impossibility. Dont worry, I know being plagued by liberalism has caused you the side affect of ignorance. I forgive you.
He looks like he's having a blast, ola....