Pope Francis (87) will not be like his predecessor Benedict XVI. become Pope Emeritus. “I think the Petrine office is for life and that’s why I don’t see any conditions for dismissal,” he said.
Francis said this in an interview with Italian Vatican journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona as part of his autobiography, to be published on March 19, entitled ‘Life – My Story in History’.
It is about the story of the Argentine Pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio, intertwined with the great events of history, from Hiroshima to the pandemic.
The Milanese daily ‘Corriere della Sera’ was the first newspaper on Thursday to publish some excerpts from the book, in which the pope tells a lot about his family, which emigrated to Argentina from Piedmont in northern Italy.
The subject is also a possible resignation, after all, the Pope has been struggling with health problems for months and appears very weak. He is still suffering from the effects of the flu and his cardinals often have to intervene to speak words of faith to his Catholic followers.
Dismissal? “This risk does not exist”
However, at the moment he has no serious reasons to consider giving up. “Maybe someone has hoped over the years that sooner or later, perhaps after a hospital stay, I would make such an announcement (that of resigning, ed.), but that risk does not exist: thank God I am in good health.” And God willing, many projects remain to be realized,” Francis said.
“Would be a confessor again”
“I think the Petrine office is for life and that is why I see no conditions for dismissal. Things would change if a serious physical disability occurred. In this case, at the beginning of my pontificate, I signed the letter of renunciation, which was deposited with the Secretariat of State. In this case, I would not call myself Pope Emeritus, but simply Bishop Emeritus of Rome, and I would move to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore to be a confessor again and bring Communion to the sick,” the Pope emphasized.
Differences of opinion with predecessor Benedict XVI are denied
“I have seen with regret how his figure as Pope Emeritus has been exploited over the years by unscrupulous people for ideological and political purposes,” the Pope argued. “We decided together that it would be better for him not to live in isolation, as Benedict had initially thought, but to meet people and participate in the life of the Church. Unfortunately, it was of little use because the polemics of the past decade have been continuous and have damaged us both.”
Since March 13, 2013, Francis has been the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and the first Latin American to hold this office.
Source: Krone
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