02/01/2023 6:29 pm (act. 02/01/2023 06:29 pm)
Georg Gänswein in front of Benedict’s stretched out body. ©AP
Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday, had already informed his private secretary Georg Gänswein of his decision to resign in September 2012.
“My immediate reaction was: ‘Holy Father, this is impossible, it’s simply not possible,'” Gänswein said in an interview with the Roman daily newspaper “La Repubblica” (Monday edition). On February 11, 2013, Joseph Ratzinger surprisingly publicly announced his resignation.
“A decision, not a thesis”
“Then he said to me, ‘As you can imagine, I’ve thought this through carefully, I’ve thought, I’ve prayed, I’ve struggled. And now I’m going to share with you a decision that’s been made, not a thesis, that’s up for debate. It’s not a question. de quaestio disputanda (open question, note), it is decided. I am telling you, but you must not tell anyone,'” reported the 68-year-old Curia Archbishop.
“Benedict once told me: ‘I cannot and do not want to follow the example of John Paul II when I am sick, because I have to deal with my life, my decisions and my strength.’ That’s why the Pope made this decision. In my opinion, this requires not only a lot of courage, but also a lot of humility,” said Gänswein. He ruled out other explanations for Benedict’s sensational resignation.
When asked why Benedikt made his resignation announcement in Latin, Gänswein replied, “Benedikt said that such an announcement should be made in the language of the church. That’s how he read those words, which became his resignation statement”, explained Gänswein. When asked why Benedict referred to himself as “pope emeritus” after his resignation, his private secretary replied that it was a personal decision. , there is no doubt that in those years (since the 2013 papal election, please note) there was only one pope named Francis,” said Gänswein.
“Vatileaks documents were stolen from my desk”
In connection with the Vatileaks scandal, Gänswein revealed that “the documents were not stolen from Pope Benedict’s desk, but from mine. Unfortunately, I only realized this much, much later, too late. I spoke to Benedict and told him plainly: ” Holy Father, I am responsible, I accept. I ask him to assign me another task, I resign.” ‘No, no,’ he replied, ‘We are a small group here and we will stick together,'” says Gänswein.
convicted valet
The “Vatileaks” case involved the release of confidential documents on corruption and money laundering in the Vatican. In the case, former papal valet Paolo Gabriele was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2012. Pope Benedict XVI pardoned him shortly before Christmas 2012.