Overview
- Multiple Italian outlets reported on May 21 that Ruini, 95, is in critical condition and being cared for at the Seminario Minore in Rome with doctors, nurses and domiciliary oxygen.
- The Vatican has said he is being assisted at home, while one news site published a death notice that has not been confirmed by the Holy See or other independent sources.
- Witnesses and reporters say Ruini remains mentally lucid and continues to read newspapers despite frailty and the use of oxygen.
- His recent health troubles follow prior hospital stays, including a lengthy admission at Policlinico Gemelli and a September 2025 hospitalization for renal problems.
- Ruini’s long tenure as CEI president from 1991 to 2007 made him a decisive political figure known for ‘ruinismo,’ and his current state could prompt renewed public attention to his influence on church and national politics.