Francis is expected to spend a week in hospital recovering from colon surgery.
Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict XVI’s personal secretary, said the pope emeritus “lovingly directs his thoughts to Pope Francis and fervently prays for him,” the German section of Vatican News reported, from Italian media.
Pope Francis underwent a pre-scheduled colon surgery on Sunday. According to reports, he is recovering well, having spent Tuesday morning reading the newspapers and walking around.
He is expected to be in the hospital for a week.
Pope Francis is being treated at the Gemelli Hospital, the same place where Pope John Paul II was treated after the 1981 assassination attempt. Mother Teresa also received care at the hospital in 1992.
