Georg Gänswein publishes book of memoirs after 20 years as secretary to the Pope Emeritus revealing his differences with Francis
A week after the funeral of Benedict XVI, who died on December 31 last year at the age of 95, ‘Nient’altro che la verità’ (Nothing but the truth) arrives this Thursday in Italian bookshops, the memoirs in which Archbishop Georg Gänswein reviews the last 20 years as personal secretary to the German pope. The author uses the book to show Joseph Ratzinger’s bewilderment with some of the decisions of his successor, Francisco, who after receiving Gänswein last Monday is expected to remove him from the position of prefect of the papal household. We anticipate the main elements of the book, co-written with the journalist Saverio Gaeta.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio asked the pope emeritus for his opinion as he was preparing his first interview, and Ratzinger advised him to be more stern in his responses to burning issues such as abortion and homosexuality. He no longer consulted him. According to Gänswein, “some statements” by Francis in the 2013 Apostolic Exhortation ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ are “not strange” to “Benedict’s theological sensibility”. The pope emeritus was also unhappy that the German cardinal Walter Kasper, with whom he had had violent theological disputes in the past, received so much attention in the synod on the family, which concluded with the text ‘Amoris Laetitia’, published in 2016 and with that the divorced and remarried people had access to communion again. That document caused “bafflement” to Ratzinger, who did not like it when Francis compared him to “a wise grandfather”. “In the end, we only have nine years difference. Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe me as ‘older brother’,” said the pope emeritus, who felt “sad” when the pontificates of both were opposed.
“On a personal level, he saw that it was a decisive change of course and considered it a mistake because it jeopardized the pacification effort of 14 years earlier.” Such was the reaction of Benedict XVI after the publication in 2021 of the motu proprio ‘Traditionis custodes’, by which Francis limited the mass in Latin, reversing the opening proclaimed by his predecessor in 2007 to exclude the most conservative sectors of the Church. to tempt. . “Benedict in particular thought it wrong to forbid the celebration of Mass according to the ancient rite in parishes, because it is always dangerous to corner a group of the faithful and make them feel persecuted.” Nor did the pope emeritus like his successor’s jokes about the supposedly little use for priests to study Latin.
Ratzinger had distinctive black sleeves peeking out from under his cassock when he first introduced himself to the world following his election as pope from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on April 19, 2005. “He told me he had been cold that morning in the Sistine, so he put on a black sweater underneath,” recalls Gänswein in the book, who then began to smell that Ratzinger could be the new bishop of Rome , one of them asked of the ceremonialists who reminded him to take off his sweater before changing the Cardinal’s clothes for the Pope’s. “Unfortunately, in the excitement of the moment, he forgot.”
Benedict XVI appointed his personal secretary prefect of the papal household in 2012 with the idea that he would act as a link between his pontificate and that of his successor, but it was a “too naive” hope as Francis showed from the first months that he did not trust Gänswein and even denied him the apartment that matched his charges. After the controversy sparked by the publication of a book in defense of compulsory celibacy for priests, in whose preparation the pope emeritus supposedly participated, Bergoglio relieved Gänswein of his responsibilities in the papal household, although he left him in the post. “I thought of myself as half a prefect,” confesses the book’s author, who felt “shocked and speechless” by the decision.
For the German archbishop, who took up his duties as Ratzinger’s personal secretary in February 2003, Benedict XVI is “one of the greatest protagonists in the history of the last century”, although he has often been described by the media as the ‘Panzerkardinal’ or “God’s Rottweiler.” Thus the former pope is described at the beginning of the book, while in the last part, written after his death, Gänswein confesses “to have no doubts” about Ratzinger’s sanctity. In any case, he suggests respecting the usual waiting period of five years after death before opening a possible process of beatification, so that “all the issues that have arisen in so many years of life” can be resolved.
Source: La Verdad
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