– Pope Benedict XVI, who died a year ago, resigned out of love for God and the Church – emphasized Archbishop Georg Genswein.
As he revealed, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said from the beginning that his term would be short because of his age. The archbishop said that after resigning as pope in February 2013, Benedict XVI was convinced that “he would not live more than a year.”
“Benedict XVI did not escape responsibility”
Archbishop Genswein noted that Benedict XVI “did not shirk his responsibility” and pointed to negotiations with the Pope about him. The decision to renounce the papacy. – This news was a very heavy blow for his personal secretary. I said, “Holy Father, you can't do that.” He explained to me that he was struggling and suffering, but he no longer had the physical and mental strength to fulfill this responsibility, – said the reverend.
Archbishop Genswein described the cardinal. Ratzinger, as a cleric, called a university professor who “wasn't born to rule. But when he was elected pope and faced with issues like pedophilia, he had a strong sense of responsibility.” – Already as a cardinal, Ratzinger understood that the big problem of the church was not the attacks from outside, but the dirt inside it. It cost him dearly. “We never saw him cry because he was very reserved and controlled his emotions, but he was suffering,” Archbishop Genswein said.
– I miss the Pope very much. who died on December 31, 2022. I feel his spiritual strength, but I miss his physical presence very much – admitted Archbishop Genswein, who returned from Rome to Germany at the end of June 2023 by the decision of Pope Francis, currently lives in the theological seminary of his native archbishop. of Freiburg, without performing any function.
On December 31, 2023, the first anniversary of the death of Benedict XVI, Archbishop Genswein celebrated Holy Mass. in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome.
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