Pope Francis makes controversial revelation involving Benedict XVI

Pope Francis revealed, last Sunday (31), that he was “used” to try to prevent Joseph Ratzinger from being elected Pontiff during the 2005 Conclave.

The statement appears in the book of interviews with the original Spanish title “El Sucesor” about his memories and relationship with his predecessor Benedict XVI, written by Spanish journalist Javier Martínez-Brocal.

The work will be published on April 3rd, but the Spanish newspaper ABC published the story today.

“In that conclave they used me. Before I continue, I will say one thing. The cardinals swear not to reveal what happens in the conclave, but the Popes have license to tell”, explains Francisco.

“It turned out that I got 40 votes out of 115 in the Sistine Chapel. They were enough to prevent the candidacy of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, because, if they had continued to vote for me, he would not have been able to reach the two-thirds necessary to be elected Pope”, said the Argentine.

When asked if they could not have elected him himself, Jorge Bergoglio said that “that was not the idea of whoever was behind the votes”. “The maneuver consisted of putting my name forward, blocking Ratzinger’s election and then negotiating a third, different candidate. They told me later that they didn’t want a ‘foreign’ Pope,” he added.

According to Francis, “it was quite a maneuver” and “the idea was to block the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. They used me, but behind them they were already thinking about proposing another cardinal. They still haven’t gotten over it.”

“We agreed on who, but they were about to say a name,” he recalled.

When asked when this happened, the current Pope explains: “The conclave began on Monday, April 18, 2005. The first vote took place in the afternoon. This operation took place on the second or third vote, on Tuesday, April 19, 2005, in the morning. When I realized, in the afternoon, I said to a Latin American cardinal, the Colombian Darío Castrillón: ‘Don’t joke with my candidacy, because now I say I don’t accept it, huh? Leave me here’. And then Benedito was elected.”

The Holy Father also explained that Ratzinger was his “candidate”. “He was the only one who could be Pope at that time. After the revolution of John Paul II, he was a dynamic Pontiff, very active, enterprising, traveling. A Pope who maintained a healthy balance was necessary. A transitional Pope.”

Finally, Francisco reiterated that he was very happy with Ratzinger’s election, as he already said in his first press conference on board a plane, upon returning from Rio de Janeiro.

“And it’s true. If they had chosen someone like me, who causes so many problems, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. He was a man who followed the new style and it wasn’t easy for him, right? He encountered a lot of resistance in the Vatican.” (ANSA).

Francis began his papacy in February 2013, after Benedict XVI resigned. As German Pope Emeritus, he passed away in December 2022, at the age of 95.