According to his secretary, Benedict XVI asked that his personal papers be destroyed.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on December 31 at the age of 95, asked his personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gänswein, to destroy his personal writings “without exception,” according to what he himself recounts in his next book.

“There are those who asked me what I will do after death Benedict XVIwith your documents. Actually, this is not a problem for me, since I received clear instructions from him, with the delivery of instructions that oblige me in my conscience to respect, regarding his library, the manuscripts of his books, documentation about the Cathedral and his correspondence. Ganswein.

The German archbishop, Ratzinger’s closest associate since 2003, specified that “as for the rest of his works, his fate is marked.”

“Personal pages of all kinds must be destroyed. This must be done without exception and without loopholes,” the pontiff emeritus told him. Benedict XVI.

Book against “slander”

Gänswein will publish the book “Nient’altro che la verità” (Nothing but the Truth) on January 12 in response to “slander and dark maneuvers” that tried “in vain” to darken the legacy of the pontiff, who died in the Vatican monastery where he lived for the last decade of his life since his historic retirement in 2013.

In its pages, a German monsignor reproaches Francis’ successor, currently “ruling” the pope, for some of his decisions, such as the cessation of masses in Latin, which was sharply criticized by the most conservative sections of the Catholic Church.

In the same way, he regrets being removed from his side, despite being the prefect of the papal court in charge of the agenda of the pontiffs, and that from day to day he was entrusted with the task of looking after Ratzinger in his retirement. at the monastery of Mater Ecclesiae.

“From now on, stay at home, accompany Benedict XVIwhoever needs it, and make him a shield,” he assures that Francisco told him.

“Two Visions of the Church”

Among other things, Gänswein acknowledges and laments on his pages the existence of currents or “fans” (he uses the term “tiphoseria” in reference to Italian football fans) in the Vatican.

“In fact, I believe that the most correct analysis should indicate as a problem not so much the coexistence of two popes, one reigning and the other honorary, but the birth and development of two fans, since with the passage of time (Ratzinger) more and more realizes that these were really two visions of the Church,” he claims.

And he adds: “These two fans are each based on statements, gestures or impressions about the attitude of Francisco and Benedict XVIon the other hand, often with completely free inventions, they created a tension that later reflected on those who did not know enough about church dynamics.

In the last decade, the coexistence of two popes, one reigning and the other honorary or retired, has given rise to two currents, with the more conservative wing often resorting to the legacy Benedict XVI attack Francisco, although both always expressed mutual respect.

(As reported by EFE)

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