Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote a “collective letter” to all those that expressed their condolences for the death of his brother Georg. He also mentioned the painful herpes he suffered this summer.
In a letter dated August 2020, signed by Benedict XVI himself and sent to the Italian News Agency Adnkronos, he expressed gratitude for the “thousand” letters of sympathy received.
“Dear friends, after my visit to Regensburg and the death of my dear brother Georg, shortly after I received so many personal letters, which I would never have imagined, and this moved me profoundly. We have counted almost a thousand,” reads the letter.
“At the same time, however, a herpes-zoster, which began to appear the day before my departure from Regensburg, has taken forms that hindered any attempt of a personal reply on my part,” explained the Pope Emeritus.
Pope Ratzinger ended his letter asking for understanding, given that he has been unable to reply personally to each one of the missives. “I ask you from my heart to understand that I can only send this collective letter as an expression of my most cordial gratitude,” he wrote.
