This file photo taken on June 22, 2020 shows former pope Benedict XVI posing for a picture at the airport in Munich, southern Germany, after visiting his brother and before his departure. Former pope Benedict XVI became seriously ill himself after visiting his sick brother in Germany in June and is "extremely frail", according to a report in the Monday, August 3, 2020 edition of the German Passauer Neue Presse newspaper. (SVEN HOPPE / POOL / AFP)

BERLIN - Former Pope Benedict XVI is seriously ill after returning to the Vatican from a visit to Germany, German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse reported on Monday, citing his biographer.

Benedict, aged 93, has become very frail and his voice is barely audible, author Peter Seewald told the daily

Benedict, aged 93, has become very frail and his voice is barely audible, author Peter Seewald told the daily.

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But at a meeting with Seewald on Saturday, German-born Benedict appeared optimistic, and said he might pick up writing again if he regains his strength, the report said, adding he was suffering from shingles.

Benedict came to his native Bavaria in June to pay his ailing brother Georg Ratzinger a final visit. Ratzinger, aged 96, died shortly afterwards.

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It was Benedict’s first trip outside Italy since 2013, the year he resigned the papacy.