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A man rows a boat near a house built on a rock on the river Drina near the western Serbian town of Bajina Basta, about 160km (99 miles) from the capital Belgrade May 22, 2013. The house was built in 1968 by a group of young men who decided that the rock on the river was an ideal place for a tiny shelter, according to the house's co-owner, who was among those involved in its construction. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

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Pope fitted with pacemaker "some time ago": Vatican

Pope Benedict XVI leaves at the end of a mass at the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican February 9, 2013. REUTERS/ Alessandro Bianchi

Pope Benedict XVI leaves at the end of a mass at the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican February 9, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/ Alessandro Bianchi

VATICAN CITY | Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:14am EST

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict had a heart pacemaker installed some time ago but was not suffering from poor health and remained lucid and serene in the wake of his decision to resign, the Vatican spokesman said on Tuesday.

It had not been generally known that the 85-year-old pope had been fitted with a pacemaker.

Father Federico Lombardi said the batteries on the appliance were replaced three months ago in a minor, routine intervention but that had played no part in persuading the pontiff to take the shock decision to step down.

"It had no influence on the decision, the reasons were in his perception that his strength had diminished with advancing age," Lombardi told a press briefing at the Vatican.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella)
World
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Papacy in Transition
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Comments (1)
mountainrose wrote:
Wonder how shocked Catholics might be if they knew that the upcoming Easter/Ishtar holiday adopted by the church was a pagan tradition where newborns from the previous Easter/Ishtar holiday were offered to the goddess Ishtar, red eggs symbolic of that offering

Feb 12, 2013 8:09am EST  --  Report as abuse
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