In a book due to be published this Wednesday (3), Pope Francis responds to criticism about the management of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s funerals and stated that the person who dealt with the issues was Joseph Ratzinger’s secretary, Monsignor Georg Ganswein, with those who have a troubled relationship.
In the work with the original title in Spanish “El Sucesor – Mis recuerdos de Benedicto XVI” (“The Successor – My memories of Benedict XVI”), Francisco also says, without citing Ganswein: “They caused me great pain”.
“That on the day of the funeral a book was published that turned me upside down, telling me things that are not true, is very sad. Naturally, it doesn’t affect me, in the sense that it doesn’t condition me.
But it hurt me that Bento has been used. The book was published on the day of the funeral, and I experienced it as a lack of nobility and humanity,” he said.
The former assistant released the work “Nient’altro che la verità – La mia vita al fianco di Benedetto XVI” (“Nothing but the truth – My life alongside Benedict XVI”, in Portuguese) in January 2023, with revelations about the relationship between the two popes and accusations against the current pontiff.
Appointed pope in 2005 to succeed the popular John Paul II, Benedict XVI ruled the Catholic Church until early 2013, when he became the first pontiff to resign in about 600 years.
