Detail in a portrait of Benedict XVI: what he wears on his wrist (and why)

Last Wednesday Benedict XVI receivedThe Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kyiv, Svyatoslav Shevchuk At the monastery of Mater Ecclesiae, where he retired after resigning nearly ten years ago. In the photos of the meeting, released by the archbishop, he did not miss many details: eye catching watch The Pope Emeritus wore it.

Joseph Ratzinger was always so used for watches: On one of his first trips as pontiff in April 2005, he went to his old apartment in Borgo Pio, focused the attention of collectors on the titanium Junghans with a disk of solar panels he wore on his wrist. In the Roman Quarter where Cardinal lived for nearly 24 years, Ratzinger used to go to a historic watchmaker’s shop. until The day after the electionA new Pope watch was brought to this store to change the black strap to white.

As Pope Emeritus, he did not give up this instrument, as he has shown in most of the photographs that have depicted him in recent years receiving guests from among the Vatican Gardens and Mater Ecclesiae. But the watch seen at the hearing with Shevchuk must hide a secret: it will, in fact, be a remote assistance device capable of speeding up Assistance in the event of illness or fall. A very useful accessory for a 95 year old like Ratzinger.

The Pope Emeritus lives in the monastery immersed in the papal greens of his beloved predecessor, John Paul II, he wanted to dedicate to the Viziandin nuns. Ratzinger used to celebrate Mass or Vespers there for the religious: when he learned that the period of upholstery use had ended, Benedict XVI He chose this place to retire after giving up for the purpose of “To continue on my way the service of prayer for which John Paul II had designated this house.”

In the monastery, the elderly Pope Emeritus With the loving assistance of the papal familyHis personal secretary, Monsignor Georges Ganswin, four o’clock Memoris Domini Carmela, Loredana, Christina, Rossella and the German secretary, Sister Brigitte.