It is very rare to hear from Pope Benedict XVI, especially now as we enter the 8th year of his abdication of the papacy.
As a result, when he does speak, people tend to listen.
When he contributed to a book alongside Cardinal Robert Sarah prior to the publication of the final document of the Amazon Synod, it caused the entire world to stop to listen to what he had to say on the nature of the priesthood, with some even crediting his intervention with the eventual result of the Synod. That is probably not likely true, but the perception was significant.
The author of this particular interview that appeared this week is Massimo Franco, a member of the Institute for International Dialogue, an international think tank on military matters and a long time Vatican correspondent. It appeared in the Italian Daily Paper Corriere della Sera.
The headline of the article reads There are no two Popes. The renunciation of eight years ago? I think I did well
But the article has a strange air to it, with quotes from Benedict few and far between in the account of the 45 minutes conversation.
It begins with Benedict remarking
Giannelli is a witty person
This was in relation to receiving some artwork.
The next paragraph finishes with:
he reiterates that "the Pope is one" by weakly beating the palm of his hand on the armrest: as if he wanted to give words the strength of a definitive statement.
Regarding his resignation, Benedict says:
It was a difficult decision. But I took it in full conscience, and I think I did well. Some of my somewhat "fanatical" friends of mine are still angry, they didn't want to accept my choice. I am thinking of the conspiracy theories that followed it: those who said it was because of the Vatileaks scandal, those who were the fault of a gay lobby plot, some of the case of the Lefebvrian conservative theologian Richard Williamson. They don't want to believe a conscious choice. But my conscience is fine."
The next line is the strangest:
The sentences come out with the dropper, the voice is a breath, it comes and goes. And Monsignor Gaenswein in some rare passages repeats and "translates", while Benedict nods as a sign of approval. The mind remains shiny, as quick as the eyes, attentive and lively.
‘The voice is a breath, it comes and goes. And Monsignor Gaenswein in some rare passages repeats and ‘translates’ while Benedict nods a sign of approval’.
This seems bizarre compared to the lucidity expressed in the previous passage regarding the abdication.
Regarding the Covid vaccine we are told ‘I found it well’.
On Pope Francis’s trip to Iraq, he states:
Unfortunately it falls at a very difficult time that also makes it a dangerous journey : for security reasons and for Covid. And then there is the unstable situation in Iraq. I will accompany Francis with my prayers.
On Joe Biden, he states:
"It is true, he is Catholic and observant. And personally it's against abortion. But as president, he tends to present himself in continuity with the democratic party line... And on gender politics, we still haven't quite understood his position.
The article finishes with
Leaving the monastery, escorted by car by a Swiss guard in plainclothes with a headset, it is thought that when Ratzinger reiterates with a veil of voice "the Pope is one", he certainly addresses the "fanatics" who do not resign themselves.
That is every quote gleamed from the 45 minutes with Pope Benedict. Today, we’ve seen countless outlets report that Benedict condemned ‘conspiracy theories’ and ‘fanatics’ and has said that Joe Biden is an ‘observant Catholic’.
It seems incredible for Benedict to sit for 45 minutes and discuss only topics that happen to be current affairs and politics, rather than discussing the theology that would be evident from the rich prayer life that he devotes himself to.
Many on social media have expressed utter confusion at the manner in which this article was written, this ‘interview’ (which appears to be an interview in the same manner that Francis’s interviews with Scalfari are written, through some bizarre process of memory recall and interpretation), has fuelled conspiracies and fanaticism rather than quelled it.
We’ll leave you with this comment to ponder upon:
The sentences come out with the dropper, the voice is a breath, it comes and goes. And Monsignor Gaenswein in some rare passages repeats and "translates", while Benedict nods as a sign of approval.