The former Pope Benedict XVI is not without controversy. during his lifetime – after his death his private secretary Archbishop Gänswein took him under his protection. In a newspaper article, Gänswein writes that he was “not an insensitive papal machine”. The abuse scandal also affected him.
The private secretary of the late former Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, has defended him against criticism. Benedict was “not a callous pope machine,” Gänswein wrote in an article for “Bild” that was published a few hours after the death of the former pope. “He was and remained fully human even on the throne of Peter.”
With his resignation in 2013, Joseph Ratzinger “very boldly opened the door to a new chapter in church history”. He gave up his fishing ring “of his own free will”, but continued to carry his name as Pope Emeritus. The fisherman’s ring is one of the insignia of the popes.
At the same time, Gänswein emphasized that the former pope was very concerned about the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. “From his travels, I will never forget the encounter with victims of abuse in Malta in 2010. The Pope listened quietly and comforted the troubled hearts of those affected. His mere presence and his tears, which he could not suppress, could do more than words,” wrote Gänswein.
“The embarrassment of what happened led to the Holy Father’s affirmation that he would do everything possible to prevent such cases from happening again.” Gänswein, who comes from the Black Forest, became Ratzinger’s assistant at the beginning of the millennium, who at the time headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican. After the cardinal was elected pope, he became secretary to the pope. Even after Benedict’s resignation, the 66-year-old stayed by his side.
