Friday, September 06, 2013

Benedict XVI, Francis’ asset

https://sphotos-a-mxp.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/p480x480/9384_455395434568509_1773787299_n.jpg“I will remain hidden from the world,” Benedict XVI told Roman priests last 14 February, two weeks before stepping down as leader of the Catholic Church. 

But partly because of the affection shown and the invitations sent to him Francis, Ratzinger has not disappeared from the public scene completely. 

Last Sunday, for the first time since he resigned, the Pope Emeritus dressed in white and celebrated mass for his former students who meet once a year for a day or so at the end of the summer. 

The Pope Emeritus gave a homily, speaking off-the-cuff in German and the most important passages from this were translated and published by Vatican Radio.
 
Benedict XVI’s homily focused on parts of the Gospel where Jesus speaks about humility and choosing the lowest places, in tune with Bergoglio’s message. 

The fact that the homily went public confirms that Ratzinger has not withdrawn completely from public life and neither is he living a cloistered life, despite the fact the elderly Pope Emeritus lives in a former convent. 

Benedict XVI lives a withdrawn but not a monastic life, assisted by four Memores Domini belonging to the Communion and Liberation movement and by his most loyal assistant Fr. Georg Gänswein. Gänswein is both personal secretary to the former Pope and Prefect of the Francis’ Papal Household. He doesn’t write books or speeches but does receive visits from friends, acquaintances and ecclesiastical and lay figures. 

Some of these visitors have given public interviews about their meetings with the former Pope, or have commented on them anonymously, denying certain statements falsely attributed to Ratzinger, such as the recent comment he allegedly made about the reason for his resignation being that God wanted him to.
 
The Pope Emeritus has not disappeared from the public spot light altogether, partly because his successor allowed photos of the two of them together to be published. 

From their first meeting in Castel Gandolfo, to their first embrace, their moments of prayer together, their conversation about the Vatileaks documents and Ratzinger’s return to the Vatican. 

Then last 5 July, the day the encyclical co-written by the Pope and the Pope Emeritus was published, Francis wanted his predecessor by his side at the inauguration of the statue of St. Michael the Archangel. 

Francis sees the Pope Emeritus as an asset. 

“It’s like having your grandfather in the house, a wise grandfather. Pope Benedict is a man of great prudence.  He doesn’t interfere!  I have often told him so: “Holiness, receive guests, lead your own life, come along with us,” Bergoglio said on his return from the World Youth Day celebrations in Rio de Janeiro. 

The attention Francis shows to Ratzinger has also been demonstrated by his decision to keep Georg Gänswein as Prefect of the Papal Household. 

Gänswein is a bridge between the reigning Pope and his predecessor who is becoming less and less hidden.