Vatican acknowledges that pope had pacemaker
Pope Benedict XVI is driven through Naples to attend the Inter Religious Conference on October 21, 2007 in Naples, Italy.
Photographer: Salvatore Laporta/Getty Images
Copyright Getty Images
Posted: 02/12/2013
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By: Associated Press
VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican is acknowledging for the first time that Pope Benedict XVI has had a pacemaker for years and that its battery was replaced a few months ago in secret.
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said Benedict had the pacemaker installed "a long time" before he became pope in 2005. He called the latest medical procedure "routine."
It was the first time the Vatican has mentioned a papal pacemaker.
Italian daily Il Sole 24 said the pope had the pacemaker procedure less than three months ago in a Rome hospital and did not miss any public appearances.
Benedict is resigning on Feb. 28 because he says he has become too infirm to handle the burdens of the papacy. He will become the first pope to step down in six centuries.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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