Insomnia drove late Pope Benedict to resign: report

Recently deceased ex-pope Benedict described years of persistent sleeping troubles as the "main reason" behind his shock decision to step down in 2013, according to a German media report yesterday.

Benedict was plagued by insomnia almost "constantly" from the start of his time as pope in 2005, according to a letter written a few weeks before his death on New Year's Eve.

In the message to his biographer Peter Seewald, obtained by German magazine Focus, Benedict said "strong" pills prescribed to him by his doctor meant he was still able to fulfil his duties as head of the Catholic Church.

The drugs however "reached their limits", meaning the ailing German pontiff was less and less available, he said in the letter dated October 28, 2022.

A nasty accident on a papal visit to Mexico and Cuba in March 2012 precipitated Benedict's final decision to resign.