The end of a difficult cohabitation between the two popes

The now deceased Pope Benedict XVI wanted to commit himself to a “life of prayer”. actually withdraw after his resignation. But in the almost ten years as Pope Emeritus, Benedict did not always stop at praying – the German repeatedly caused irritation with statements and texts.

The long-lasting cohabitation of the two popes was unique in the history of the Catholic Church. Although Benedict announced his resignation in Latin on February 11, 2013 and completed it a little later, he never took off the white robe of the pope.

The unusual cohabitation between the 265th and 266th Pope initially went smoothly. Except that Benedict, one of the great scholars of the church, did what he liked to do more and more often. He wrote on the major issues of the Church, producing analyzes that sparked controversy.

Benedict demanded unconditional adherence to celibacy

This was particularly evident two years ago in connection with the Amazon Synod. Because of their striking lack of priests, the churches in the Amazon region had demanded the ordination of married deacons to the priesthood and also suggested opening up ordained offices to women.

Shortly before Francis’ decision on these demands, a book by the traditionalist Cardinal Robert Sarah from Guinea appeared in mid-January 2020, which was published as a joint work with Benedict. In it, both rejected the demands of the Amazon Synod and called for a firm adherence to celibacy – it looked as if Benedict wanted to put pressure on his successor shortly before a key decision in Francis’ pontificate.

After severe criticism, Benedict’s private secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, withdrew the cardinal’s permission to distribute the book in Benedict’s name.

Whether Francis actually allowed himself to be influenced cannot be clarified – in any case, he did not take up the call for relaxed celibacy. However, it became clear that Francis must have been very annoyed – shortly afterwards he gave Gänswein leave as prefect of the papal house and instructed him to take more care of Benedict.

Benedict had previously caused a shake of the head by trying to explain the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church with the sexual revolution of the 1960s in a long text. And in 2018, Benedict angered representatives of Judaism with an essay.

Even if Benedict himself fueled the impression that he wanted to continue turning the wheel of church history, he rejected the accusations. On the eighth anniversary of his resignation in 2020, he emphasized, “There are no two popes. The pope is only one.”

Even the number two in the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, had to emphasize that there is only one pope who has papal authority – namely Francis. The fact that such clarifications were necessary at all is also due to the repeatedly published, ambiguous statements.

For example, private secretary Gänswein said in a speech that there were no two popes, “but de facto an extended office – with an active and a contemplative partner”. Benedict XVI did not leave the Petrus ministry with his resignation.

Such statements fueled traditionalists who saw Francis as illegitimate. Francis himself tried to explain the vague definition of pope emeritus in secular terms. He repeatedly described Benedict, who was nine years his senior, as a “grandfather” who lived in the house.

Now this “grandfather” has died. Perhaps this is a good time to heed the admonition of some theologians to define the role of a pope emeritus more clearly. Francis said more than once that he too could imagine resigning.