![]() ![]() ![]() Benedict also wrote a letter complimenting Cardinal Joachim Meisner – a fierce critic of Francis who spoke out against the pontiff allowing remarried divorcees to receive holy communion – who died in 2017.īut this is the first time he has intervened, whether knowingly or not, in a matter that the Pope is actively considering. The opinion came two months after an unprecedented Vatican summit on tackling clerical sexual abuse, and sharply contrasted with that of Francis, who blamed the scandals on a clerical culture that elevates priests above the laity. A Vatican journalist for the rightwing Italian press claimed that it was a furious Pope Francis who ordered that Benedict’s name be removed.īenedict has come forward on a variety of issues over the past seven years, most controversially writing last year that the sexual revolution of the 1960s and “homosexual cliques” among priests were to blame for the church’s paedophile-priest scandals. Throughout his life Benedict has been a prolific writer, but others questioned his capacity to construct such a detailed essay at the age of 92. Meanwhile, the US publisher, Ignatius, refused to relent, saying in a statement that the English version would retain Benedict as co-author.Īmid the fallout over the book, Vatican commentators picked over its origins, with some saying “the two popes” were the victims of exploitation by the warring conservative and liberal factions within the Catholic church. The French publisher, Fayard, went ahead and published the book as planned, but in future editions Benedict will be named as a contributor rather than co-author. Sarah denied allegations that he had misled Benedict, providing proof of the text that had been given to him and claiming that Benedict was aware that the project would take the form of a book. His personal secretary, Georg Gänswein, said that while Benedict knew that Cardinal Sarah, who has clashed with Pope Francis in the past, was preparing a book, and had sent him an essay on the priesthood, he had not approved a co-authored project and had neither seen nor authorised the book’s cover. ![]() ![]() In a bizarre twist, after extracts of From the Depths of Our Hearts were published in France’s Le Figaro newspaper last Sunday, the former pontiff demanded that his name be dropped as co-author. But the timing of the book’s release, as Pope Francis considers allowing the ordination of married men in remote areas of the Amazon in order to overcome a shortage of priests, led many to accuse Benedict, who still lives within the walls of Vatican City and continues to wear a white cassock, of breaching his vow of silence and undermining his successor’s authority. That in itself would not have caused a stir. It started with a book written with the outspoken conservative cardinal Robert Sarah defending priestly celibacy. The ex-pontiff, who chose to be called Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI after his abdication in 2013, instead of reverting to Joseph Ratzinger, is at the centre of a drama that has been more entertaining than the Oscar-nominated film, The Two Popes. “He is an extremist, whereas Francis is more human and closer to the people.” Another pilgrim, who wished to remain anonymous, speculated after being briefed on the goings-on: “Benedict decided to abdicate and should keep his promise of staying silent.” “I would not have come all this way for Benedict,” said Marisol Durán Vergora, a first-time visitor to the Vatican from Spain. ![]()
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