Vatican city:  The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's health has deteriorated recently as a result of his advanced age, and doctors are closely monitoring his condition. Pope Francis urged the faithful to pray for his "very ill" predecessor "until the end."

Francis visited the 95-year-old, frail Benedict in the monastery on Vatican property where he has resided since retiring in February 2013, according to Matteo Bruni, a spokesman for the Vatican.

"I can confirm that in the last hours, a worsening due to advanced age has occurred with regard to the health condition of the emeritus pope, for whom Pope Francis asked for prayers at the conclusion of his general audience this morning," Bruni said in a written statement.

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Doctors are still closely monitoring the situation, which is currently under control, according to the statement.

Francis deviated from his prepared remarks to say that Benedict is "very ill" and asked the faithful to pray for the retired pontiff at the conclusion of his customary Wednesday audience with the general public in a Vatican auditorium.

Francis made no further mention of Benedict's condition.

Francis urged everyone to say a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who was keeping the church silent. Remember him; he is in critical condition. He is pleading with the Lord to comfort him and keep him going in his testimony of love for the church.

Following the one-hour audience, "Pope Francis visited Benedict XVI at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery. Bruni urged everyone to join him in prayer for the retired pope.

In recent years, Benedict, the first pope to step down in 600 years, has grown more frail as he devoted his post-papal life to prayer and meditation.

The retired pontiff was in good spirits when he turned 95 in April, according to his longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who also noted that he was "naturally he is physically relatively weak and fragile, but rather lucid."

Four months ago, Francis also paid Benedict a visit at the monastery. The new "princes of the church" accompanied Francis to the monastery for the quick greeting at the time because it was the occasion of his most recent ceremony conferring cardinal rank on churchmen.

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When the picture was taken, the Vatican made it public. It showed a very thin-looking Benedict holding Francis' hand and grinning at him.

In his early years of retirement, Benedict attended a few ceremonies in St. Peter's Basilica to elevate cardinals. However, he had lost his ability to attend the lengthy service in recent years.

In 1977, he was promoted to cardinal status by Paul VI, the pontiff at the time. The German prelate and theologian, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was the Vatican's orthodox doctrinal watchdog for a long time. In 2005, he won the election for pope.

In February 2013, Benedict shocked a roomful of Vatican prelates by announcing in Latin that he would resign as pope in two weeks. His choice alarmed some church traditionalists.

Francis has praised Benedict's choice as a brave admission that his physical frailty no longer allowed him to fully serve the 1.3 billion Catholics around the world.

Francis has stated that he would consider retiring if the circumstances called for it, given his own health history, which includes a knee ligament issue that has forced him to use a wheelchair or a cane.

Francis revealed that he wrote a resignation letter soon after his fellow cardinals chose him to succeed Benedict as pope in order to have it on hand in case health issues prevented him from performing his duties in an interview with the Spanish newspaper ABC earlier this month.

Francis, however, downplayed his mobility issue in the same interview by asserting that one rules with the head, not the knee.

Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing, who is also the head of the German bishops' conference, joined Francis in asking for prayers in Benedict's home country.

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Baetzing stated to the German news agency dpa, "My thoughts are with the emeritus pope." "I ask the German faithful to pray for Benedict XVI."

Olaf Scholz, Berlin's chancellor, "wishes the German pope, as we say, a good recovery and his thoughts are with him," government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said at a routine press conference.