Pope's brother whisked to hospital for pacemaker

[emad]

Pope's brother whisked to hospital for pacemaker
04 Aug 2005 11:02:10 GMT


VATICAN CITY, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict's older brother, who once suggested the Pontiff may be too old for the job, was himself taken to hospital late on Wednesday for heart trouble and was fitted with a pacemaker, the Vatican said.

Georg Ratzinger was with his brother at the Pope's summer residence in Castelgandolfo, near Rome, when he suffered heart problems and was taken to Rome's Gemelli hospital, the clinic where Pope John Paul was treated before his death in April.

The 81-year-old German priest was recovering well from the operation, the Vatican said in a statement on Thursday.

Ratzinger, three years Benedict's senior, achieved notoriety around the time his brother was chosen to head the Catholic church by suggesting his age was not ideal.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L04567906.htm

[sniffa]

1. is this reaLLy LBN?

i heard his cousin got a hair cut.

[emad]

2. Consider his words at the end of the story relating to his brother:

"At 78 it's not good to take on such a job which challenges the entire person and the physical and mental existence," he said shortly before the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope.

Papa Ratzi admitted one week after being elected that he'd had a series of strokes and was getting on a bit...