Pope Francis and a phrase from the Angelus that made a stir

Pope Francis appealed this Sunday to the purest ecclesiastical style a respond to the offensive against him which he launched in recent days, when they were still watching over Benedict XVI, his secretary, also the 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 the importance of “stepping aside at the right moment”.

After the death of Benedict XVI, journalistic statements and the anticipation of a book of memoirs by his secretary were known in which, among other things, he says that it was a heavy blow for him that Francisco two years ago relieved him of the post as prefect of the papal household – something like the head of audiences, ceremonial and protocol – to look after the pope emeritus, and he claimed it was a great pain to Joseph Ratzinger that his successor severely limited the Latin Mass.

Gänswein went down to minor things, such as revealing that when Francis said, emphasizing his good coexistence with Benedict XVI, that he was “like having grandpa at home”Ratzinger (since he was only nine years older than Bergoglio) thought he really should have said it “like having an older brother”.

They say that Benedict XVI’s secretary, after being received this week by Francis (although the content of what he said has not come out), he tried unsuccessfully to stop the book from being published.

The truth is that his statements They didn’t love the Church, even in the conservative sectors that question Francis, considering they were rushed.

And that they have been exploited by those who want nothing from the Argentine Pope. An alleged document by the recently deceased Cardinal Pell has also come to light, in which he states that Francis’ pontificate “is a disaster”.

Francisco didn’t open his mouth until this Sunday, when He did it in a very elliptical way, but one that everyone in the Church understood.

“It will do us good to cultivate, like John, the virtue of stepping aside at the right moment, testifying that the point of reference in life is Jesus. Stepping aside, learning to greet: I have accomplished this mission, I have accomplished this encounter, I step aside and make room for the Lord: learn to step aside, don’t expect something in return for ourselves», was the Pope’s statement that made a stir, because some interpreted it as self-referential.

But really he made it clear that this was not the time to criticize and, even less, to tarnish a link between an incumbent Pope and a retired one which was very respectful.