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VATICAN CITY, January 6 (Reuters) – (This January 6 story has been reclassified to correct the year to 2013, not 2005, in paragraph 8)
Although Pope Francis has often compared former Pope Benedict’s presence in the Vatican to having a grandfather in the house, a book by Benedict’s closest aide shows what he says are tensions as two men dressed in white lived in the small city-state.
Benedict was buried thursday and hours after the funeral in St. Peter’s Square, an Italian publishing house began sending journalists advance copies of the 330-page “Nothing but the Truth – My Life Next to Benedict XVI,” by Archbishop Georg Ganswein.
Ganswein, 66, had been Benedict’s personal secretary since 2003, when Benedict was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and remained by his side for nearly 20 years until his death on Saturday. He was Francis’ goalkeeper until he was replaced in 2020.
In the book, which should be in bookstores on January 1. On December 12, Ganswein gives an insider’s perspective on Benedict’s election in 2005, his 2013 decision to become the first pope in 600 years to step down, his years after the papacy, his illness and his final hours. .
Even though Benedict largely avoided public appearances after his resignation, he remained a standard bearer for conservative Catholics, who felt alienated by the reforms introduced by Francis, including the crackdown on the Old Latin Mass.
Ganswein says Benedict was “surprised” that Francis never responded to a public letter from four conservative cardinals in 2016, including U.S. Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, who accused Francis of confusing moral issues.
The book also indicates that Benedict XVI disagreed with some of Francis’ positions.
After Francis gave a lengthy interview to a Jesuit newspaper six months after his election in 2013, Francis sent the newspaper to Benedict for comment.
Ganswein says Benedict, in his annotated response to Francis, criticized the way Francis responded to questions about abortion and homosexuality.
He also writes that Benedict felt that Francis’ decisions to restrict the use of the traditionalist Latin Mass was “a mistake”.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said he had no comment on the book, written with Italian journalist Saverio Gaeta and published by Piemme, an imprint of Mondadori.
SERVE TWO MASTERS
For the first seven years after Francis was elected pope, Ganswein retained his two jobs – prefect of the Papal Household and private secretary to the ex-pope.
Ganswein writes that he was never able to build trust with the new pope and that Francis probably let him keep the post of prefect for so long out of respect for Benedict.
The ax fell in January 2020, when Ganswein was at the center of a messy episode regarding a book on priestly celibacy written primarily by conservative Cardinal Robert Sarah.
Sarah said Benedict was co-author. Benoît said he wasn’t and He demanded that his name be removed of the cover.
Ganswein was caught in the middle and Francis, who official Vatican sources at the time said was unhappy with how the episode had been handled effectively, fired Ganswein from his post as prefect.
Ganswein writes that Francis ordered him “not to come back to work tomorrow” but to care for the sick Benedict full-time.
Benoît wrote two letters to François calling on him to do or say something to clear up the situation because Ganswein was suffering and “being attacked from all sides”. Francis never reinstated Ganswein in the position.
Ganswein wrote that Benedict told him on September 1. On Dec. 25, 2012, he had decided to step down — about five months before he did — and said the pope later told a handful of senior Vatican officials.
He said he tried to convince the pope to slow down rather than resign, but Benedict wouldn’t have wanted it and started thinking about the best time for an event they knew was historic.
Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Alison Williams
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