Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI has expressed surprise that he is still alive, his longtime personal secretary has revealed.

Archbishop Georg Gänswein recalled with emotion that the former Pope said: “I would never have believed that the last stretch of the journey… to the gates of St. Peter would be so long.”

Archbishop Gänswein said that Benedict made that remark “a few years ago.” Today, he reported, the retired Pope is very frail, and his speaking voice is “increasingly low and incomprehensible,” but his mind remains alert.