Vatican City, Feb 7, 2018 / 02:18 am
In a rare new letter penned by Benedict XVI, the retired pontiff said he is in the last phase of his life, and while his physical strength might be waning, he is surrounded by a "love and goodness" that he never imagined.
"I can only say that at the end of a slow decline in physical strength, inwardly I am on pilgrimage home," Benedict XVI said in the letter, published Feb. 7 in Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
He said that "it's a great grace for me to be to be surrounded in this last piece of the road, which is at times a bit tiring, by a love and goodness that I could never have imagined."
Benedict addressed the letter to Italian journalist Massimo Franco of Corriere della Sera, who was charged with the task of presenting the retired pontiff with letters expressing concern and asking about his well-being five years after resigning from the papacy.