Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is suffering from aggravated kidney failure and had a pacemaker recently fitted, an informed Vatican source has told the Register. The source said Benedict XVI has been experiencing “kidney failure which has worsened in the last few hours.” The source added that the 95-year-old Pope Emeritus had a “pacemaker fitted about a month and a half ago to regularize his heartbeats” but stressed that it was unrelated to his kidney failure.