Archbishop Georg Gänswein brings a book about the late Pope Benedict XVI. out. Some passages from the work of the secretary by Joseph Ratzinger cause a stir.
Rome/Munich – It is apparently up to Georg Gänswein, Archbishop of the Vatican, to keep the private documents of Pope Benedict XVI. to destroy. “Private records of any kind must be destroyed. This applies without exceptions and back doors,” is an order from the deceased, writes his private secretary in the forthcoming book “Nothing but the Truth”. Italian media published passages from it on Friday.
Ex-Pope Benedict dead: Archbishop Gänswein comments on the estate and private writings of Joseph Ratzinger
The ex-Pope “clarified this in black and white” and also gave “precise instructions” about what should be done with his library, manuscripts and books. Benedict XVI – the bourgeois Joseph Ratzinger was called – died on New Year’s Eve morning at the age of 95 in the Vatican. From 2005 to 2013, the clergyman, who was born in the district of Altötting, was the head of the Catholic Church. Then he resigned and lived in seclusion in the Vatican until the end of his life.
Gänswein also explains in the book from the Piemme publishing house that there are comments by Joseph Ratzinger on his estate and personal gifts give. “For this fulfillment I have the task of executor,” explains the 66-year-old in it. The relevant comments were last updated in 2021.
Meanwhile, excerpts from the book “Nient’altro che la Verità” are making headlines for another reason: the daily newspaper The messenger reported from Rome that Gänswein would subsequently complain about his leave of absence from the incumbent Pope Francis.
Pope Benedict XVI: Secretary Gänswein “shocked and speechless”
As the incumbent Pope from Argentina Georg Gänswein was “shocked and speechless” when he gave him leave as “Prefect of the Papal Household” in February 2020. The reason was the request that he should now only take care of the emeritus, then 92-year-old Pope. Benedict XVI commented on his successor’s decision with the words: “I think that Pope Francis no longer trusts me and that he wants you to guard me.” He then personally approached his successor to change his mind, but without success.
The Italian Curial Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia commented critically on these publications from the Gänswein book. “Silence would be better,” said the head of the papal academy, according to the news agency KNA in a radio program of the Italian RAI.
Benedict XVI was buried. Politicians and clergy from all over the world attended. The funeral mass in the ticker to read. (PF with material from dpa)