Simon Tomlinson and Richard Hartley-Parkinson
The Daily Mail [UK]
11 February 2013
Lighting strikes the basilica of St.Peter’s dome earlier this evening during a storm that struck Rome on the same day Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation
…A doctor familiar with the pope’s medical team said the Pontiff has no grave or life-threatening illnesses…
…In November 2011, Andrea Tornielli – a well-placed reporter from the Vatican Insider, a project run by La Stampa newspaper in Italy – said Pope Benedict found it agonising to walk even short distances due to ‘arthrosis’, thought to be an Italian term for osteoarthritis, in his knees, hips and ankles.
The condition forced him to pull out of a trip to Brazil in July.
Mr Tornielli said this was why the Pope began using a moving platform to address crowds during mass in St Peter’s Basilica.
There have also been reports that the Pope was struggling to read texts.
Dr Alan Silman, the medical director of Arthritis Research UK, said Pope Benedict most likely has osteoarthritis, which causes people to lose the cartilage at the end of their joints, making it difficult to move around without pain.
He said: ‘It would be painful for him to kneel while he’s praying and could be excruciating when he tries to get up again.’…
The lengthy, informative article is at The Daily Mail It includes video and over a dozen photos.
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