Benedict withdraws his name from the book on celibacy
A controversial authorship after the publication of the alleged participation of Pope Emeritus in the essay the Vatican, said it was a "filial contribution"
The editors had to hurry yesterday to modify the book "From the depths of our hearts", which is expected to be published today in France. Until a few hours ago, Benedict XVI put his face and his signature on some controversial statements about celibacy that were understood as an interference in the pontificate of Francis, who must soon pronounce on the possibility of married men exercising the sacraments in remote places where The priests do not arrive. However, after a day and a half of denials and cross accusations, the book will not be signed by Benedict. Nor will it appear in the introduction or in the conclusions.
His personal secretary, the German archbishop Georg Gänswein, yesterday asked Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, responsible for the volume, not to include Joseph Ratzinger as co-author. A request that Sarah agreed to. The cardinal and prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments affirmed that it will be published with his signature and the "contribution of Benedict XVI." The intrigue about the authorship that has been causing a stir since last Sunday seems to close.
After publishing the alleged participation of Pope Emeritus in the essay, the Vatican offered a first reaction in which he stated that it was the aforementioned "filial contribution" to the Franciscan magisterium. However, hours later, Joseph Ratzinger's environment leaked to several international media that the German Pontiff had not written the book with four hands and that he was not aware of its publication either. That person recognized only that Benedict wrote some notes on the priesthood, which he shared with Sarah. According to that version, it would be the latter who used them to give more packaging to his work.
Both versions
Shortly after, the Guinean cardinal - representative of the most conservative sector of the Curia - said that what was said by Ratzinger's environment was a "defamation of exceptional gravity" about his person. He published on Twitter several letters, apparently signed by Benedict XVI, in which he expressed his collaboration. However, in the first of them, of September 2019, Pope Emeritus affirmed that he did not have the strength to elaborate a theological text, so he would simply pass a few notes on the priesthood. Two months later, Ratzinger stated that he had written seven pages, which matched Sarah's thinking. "The text can be published as planned by you," notes the letter signed by Benedict.
From both versions it follows that Pope Emeritus would have only added some idea and that Robert Sarah composed his book with it. Although for its publication it affirmed that it was written to four hands with Joseph Ratzinger. The Guinean cardinal continues to maintain that Benedict was aware of the elaboration of the essay, its presentation and the date of departure, while the surroundings of the German Pontiff denies it. However, the real debate after the controversy is what the role of an emeritus Pope should be, something that is not included in Canon Law and that could be studied shortly to avoid new controversies such as the one that has happened in recent days.
