The secret maneuvers to elect the last Popes, told by Francis himself, in a new and revealing book

Revelations with “unholy” maneuvers. and votes in the last two Conclaves, whose data They should be kept in strict secrecy forever.Francis’ praise to Pope Ratzinger, who “simpler funerals” are imposed.changing secular rules with the death of each Pope. All in one book, “The successor”presented on Wednesday in Spain and written as an interview between Bergoglio and journalist Javier Martinez Brocal.

The relationship of the Argentine Pope with the German pontiff who had resigned from office, something that had never happened in 598 years, and who stated that “one cannot come down from the Cross”, is summarized according to Bergoglio in that “He never let people speak badly of me.”. And there was no shortage of ecclesiastical delegations who went to the monastery in the gardens where the Pope Emeritus resided, a title that Ratzinger himself had given himself.

“He always defended me”, comments Francisco. For example, when powerful ecclesiastics came to the Monastery to explain to the great theologian Ratzinger that the pontiff supported homosexual marriages.

In the book it is clear that neither Benedict XVI I consider Francisco a rivalnor did his successor as the 266th Pope in history believe him to be an enemy.

between two “there was unity of purpose and total sympathy”, says journalist Martínez Brocal. The tensions were expressed in the two teams that supported the two pontiffs.

Ratzinger’s secretary

Francis breaks the silence on Ratzinger’s historic secretary, Georg Gaenswein, who on the same day as the German pope’s funeral published a book entitled “Nothing but the truth”.

«This gesture made me very sad», recalls the Pope. In that book «it makes me turn and half turn telling things that aren’t true. It’s very sad. She hurt me that she used Benedicto. The book came out on the day of the funeral, I experienced it as a lack of nobility and humanity”.

The election of Benedict XVI

In “The Successor” the Pope not only talks about ten years of relationship with Ratzinger. He also reconstructs the 2005 Conclave, which elected Benedict XVI. “It happened that I got 40 out of 115 votes in the Sistine Chapel. They were enough to stop his candidacy, “He did not reach the two thirds necessary to be elected Pope.”

This is the first time, because it’s supposed to the data is protected by an eternal secret. The Pope reports what happened in the 2005 Conclave, after the death of the Polish John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla, later elevated to sainthood.

«There were some stratagems sufficient to stop Cardinal Ratzinger’s candidacy. Those 40 votes in my favor were enough to prevent him from being elected. The maneuver consisted of putting my name in, blocking Ratzinger’s election and then negotiating a third candidate. That is, they were using me but they were already thinking of another cardinal.

“Then I said to the Colombian Darío Castrillón: Don’t joke with my candidacy because at this moment I tell you that I will not accept. leave me there. And Benedict had already been elected there.”

Francisco explained it He also voted for the German Joseph Ratzinger. “He was the only one who could be considered Pope at that time”.

The election of Francis

In the Conclave of March 13, 2013, in which Francis was elected, the Pope said he realized after the cardinals gathered around himby asking him questions about the Latin American Church and implying that he was gaining support.

He explained that he realized he might have been chosen when Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril y Catelló approached him after lunch on March 13, shortly before what would have been the final vote.

The Spanish cardinal had a question about his health. “Your Eminence, is it true that you are missing a lung?” His opponents have spoken out about the issue, citing it as an obstacle to his election.

Bergoglio replied that when he was young (21 years old) part of his right lung had been removed after a respiratory infection. “More than 50 years have passed,” commented the future Pope. Cardinal Abril smiled and murmured: these last minute maneuvers…”

The funerals

Finally, the funerals. Francisco wants to do easier rites. “Current rituals are too burdensome. “I believe that death should be guaranteed with dignity, like for every other Christian.”

“I don’t eat an exposed body for days (…) Furthermore, the practice of keeping two vigils is excessive, it didn’t seem effective to me. It should be done only once and with the Pope in the coffin, as happens in all Christian families”, she said.

The decisions have been made. “I spoke to the master of ceremonies and we eliminated these and other things. “I am revising the rite in such a way that the Popes will be veiled and buried like every child of the Church,” she revealed.

“There will no longer be a ceremony for the closing of the coffin.”

“In my case they should take me to Santa María la Mayor,” he said, referring to the main basilica dedicated to the virgin in the Catholic world.

The Pope had already revealed his will, also dictated by his devotion to the Virgin Mary, which led him several times in his life to the image of Mary in the basilica.

“Everything has to be done at the same time. In my case they have to take me to Santa María Mayor”, which is located in front of the Argentine embassy to the Italian government.

Jorge Bergoglio has already chosen his place of eternal rest: a small chapel.