Pope Francis appealed this Sunday in the purest ecclesiastical style to
respond to the offensive against
him that he launched in recent days, when they were still watching over Benedict XVI, his secretary,
the also German archbishop Georg Gänswein.
Starting from the Gospel of the day - which evokes the passage in which the apostle John steps aside and gives way to Jesus - the Pontiff spoke of the importance of "freedom from attachments" and of
the importance of "stepping aside at the right time."
After the death of Benedict XVI, journalistic declarations and the advance of a book of memories of his secretary were known in which, among other things, he says that it was a blow for him that Francisco two years ago relieved him of his function as prefect of the Papal Household –something like the head of audiences, ceremonial and protocol- to take care of the pope emeritus, and maintained that it was a great pain for Joseph Ratzinger that his successor severely restricts the mass in Latin.
Gänswein descended into minor things, such as revealing that when Francis said, in highlighting his good coexistence with Benedict XVI, that it was
“like having grandfather at home”
, Ratzinger (since he was only nine years older than Bergoglio) considered that he really should have said
“like have the older brother.
They say that the secretary of Benedict XVI, after being received this week by Francisco (although the content of what was said did not come out),
tried to stop the publication of the book without success.
The truth is that his statements
did not go down well in the Church, even in conservative sectors that question Francis,
considering that they were hasty.
And that they
were taken advantage of by those who do not want anything to the Argentine Pope
.
He even leaked an alleged document from the recently deceased Cardinal Pell, in which he says Francis's papacy "is a disaster."
Georg Gänswein was Benedict XVI's secretary and has now received a reply from Pope Francis to his attacks.
AP Photo
Francis did not open his mouth until this Sunday, when
he did so in a very elliptical way, but in which everyone in the Church understood.
"It will do us good to cultivate, like John, the virtue of stepping aside at the opportune moment, bearing witness that the reference point of life is Jesus. Stepping aside, learning to say goodbye: I have fulfilled this mission, I have accomplished this I meet, I step aside and make room for the Lord. Learn to step aside, not expect something in return for ourselves", was the Pope's phrase that made noise, since some interpreted it as self-referential.
But in reality
, he made it clear that this was not the time for criticism and, even less, to tarnish a link between an acting Pope and a retired one
who was very respectful.
look also
Who is "Don Georg", the guardian of the secrets of Benedict XVI
They publish criticism of Pope Francis by George Pell, cardinal and former Vatican treasurer who was accused of child abuse and died on Tuesday