ROME
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | Sep. 8, 2016
ROME Retired Pope Benedict XVI has said the work of governing the global Catholic church was not his “strong point” and that he had a weakness of “little resolve” before the difficult decisions he faced.
But in his first substantial comments since his renunciation of the papacy in 2013, to be published in a new book-length interview Friday, the retired pope also says that while there were difficult moments in his reign it was “also a period in which many people found a new life in the faith.”
“A weak point of mine was maybe little resolve in governing and making decisions,” admits the ex-pontiff in the book, titled Ultimi Conversazioni (“Last Conversations”), and excerpted Thursday in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper. …
Speaking to his 2005-13 reign as pontiff, Benedict admits there were “difficult moments,” citing specifically three scandals that occurred during his papacy: Continued questioning of the church’s handling of sexual abuse; his decision to lift the excommunication of traditionalist Bishop Richard Williamson, who denies aspects of the Holocaust; and the so-called Vatileaks trial at which his butler was found guilty of publishing secret documents.
Setting aside the scandals, he states, “it was also a period in which many people found a new life in the faith and there was also a great positive movement.” …
The retired pontiff bluntly rebuts those who have claimed he resigned the papacy due to threats of blackmail or some other malfeasance.
“No one tried to blackmail me,” he states. “If someone had tried to blackmail me I would not have left because you cannot leave when you are under pressure.”
“It is also not true that I was embittered,” he continues. “In fact, thanks to God, I was in a peaceful state of soul, of one who has overcome the difficulty — the state of soul in which you can tranquilly pass the helm to who comes next.”
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