Benedict XVI’s personal secretary reveals Francis caused pope emeritus ‘heartache’ when he restricted Latin Masses

Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who accompanied Benedict XVI throughout his pontificate, and even after his resignation, said the motu proprio “Traditionis custodes” (“Guardians of tradition”), published in 2021, was a ” turning point” with his successor, Francesco.

“I think Pope Benedict he read this motu proprio with pain in his heartThis was stated by the personal secretary of the pope emeritus in an interview with the German Catholic weekly Die Tagespost, published after the death of Joseph Ratzinger, which took place on Saturday.

Gänswein was faithful secretary of the pope emeritus since 2003, his adviser and “almost like a son”. He has abandoned all his activities as prefect of the Papal Household, where he was in charge of protocol, a position to which he was assigned in 2012, to take full care of Benedict XVI.

The document to which he alluded in that note is that one he revoked an authorization given by Benedict XVI in 2007 so that the priests celebrated masses in the way prior to the Second Vatican Council, that is, in Latin and with their backs to the faithful.

On his own initiative, Francis ruled that priests must seek permission from their bishops to celebrate masses in the old rite, prompting criticism from ultra-conservative wings of the clergy.

Jorge Bergoglio, whose goal was to contain divisions in the Catholic Church, said at the time that he had made that decision “to defend the unity of the Body of Christ”. “The misuse that has been made of it (Benedict XVI’s Sumonorum Pontificum) is contrary to the reasons that led them to grant the freedom to celebrate the Mass in Latin”, explained the Argentine Pope.

He also argued that the concessions established by his predecessors were motivated “by the desire to rebuild the schism with the movement led by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.”

The widespread use of the 1962 Missal has “gravely depreciated” the desire for unity and the concessions have served to “increase levels, exacerbate differences, build oppositions that wound the Church and hinder her progress, exposing her to the risk of division. “, Francis underlined.

It was precisely in a speech in Latin, on February 11, 2013, that Benedict XVI announced his resignation commanded by the Catholic Church, an unprecedented event in nearly 600 years.

The Latin Mass ruled for four centuries, between 1570 and 1962, until the innovative Council convened by St. John XXIII, whose principles were again vindicated by Francis, promoted modern liturgical reforms.

The funeral of Benedict XVI

The mortal remains of Benedict XVI were placed on Wednesday afternoon, after the closing of the funeral chapel, in the cypress wood coffin, the first of three in which he will be buried, in a ceremony that took place inside St. Peter’s Basilica and then everything will be ready for the The funeral will be celebrated on Thursday by Pope Francis.

After the three days in which almost 200,000 people went to St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their last respects to the pope emeritus, who died on December 31 at the age of 95, he was, as tradition dictates, placed in a coffin of cypress covered with red velvet and in a ceremony the “rógito” was read, a parchment on which the life and most important works of Benedict XVI are written and which was then placed in the coffin.

Subsequently, the pope’s face was covered by a veil of white silk and the medals minted during his pontificate were also introduced into the coffin, as were the pallios, the ornament worn on the shoulders, since he was bishop of Monaco and Rome. The same procedure envisaged for a “reigning” pope.

After closing the coffin, it will remain inside the basilica until it is taken to St. Peter’s Square for the funeral mass which will be presided over by Francisco and concelebrated by the dean of cardinals, due to the Argentine pontiff’s mobility problems.

Only after the funeral will the coffin return inside the basilica for burial in the Vatican grottoes, where the popes are buried. It will be sealed with red ribbons bearing the seals of the Apostolic Chamber, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, the Pope’s Office for Liturgical Celebrations and the Vatican Chapter.

The cypress box will be set in another lead box four millimeters thick and this one in another varnished elm wood. On the latter they will place a simple crucifix and the shield of the deceased pontiff and a tombstone, on which the name of the pope and when he was born and died are written in Latin.

With information from ANSA and EFE.

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