VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s longtime personal secretary has written a tell-all book that his publisher on Monday promised would tell the reality concerning the “blatant calumnies,” “dark maneuvers,” mysteries and scandals that sullied the status of a pontiff best known for his historic resignation.
Archbishop Georg Gaenswein’s “Nothing however the Truth: My Life Beside Pope Benedict XVI” is being published this month by the Piemme imprint of Italian publishing giant Mondadori, based on a press release.
Benedict died Saturday at age 95 and his body was placed on display Monday in St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of a Thursday funeral to be celebrated by his successor, Pope Francis.
Gaenswein, a 66-year-old German priest, stood by Benedict’s side for nearly three a long time, first as an official working for then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then starting in 2003 as Ratzinger’s personal secretary.
Gaenswein, a 66-year-old German priest, stood by Benedict’s side for nearly three a long time.
Gaenswein followed his boss to the Apostolic Palace as secretary when Ratzinger was elected pope in 2005. And in one of the vital memorable images of Benedict’s final day as pope Feb. 28, 2013, Gaenswein wept as he accompanied Benedict through the frescoed halls of the Vatican, saying goodbye.
He remained Benedict’s gatekeeper, confidant and protector during a decade-long retirement, while also serving until recently because the prefect of Francis’ papal household. It was Gaenswein who performed the anointing of the sick last Wednesday, when Benedict’s health deteriorated, and it was he who called Francis on Saturday to inform him that Benedict had died.
In line with Piemme, Gaenswein’s book incorporates “a private testimony concerning the greatness of a light man, a nice scholar, a cardinal and a pope who made the history of our time.” But it surely said the book also contained a first-hand account that will correct some “misunderstood” elements of the pontificate in addition to the machinations of the Vatican.
Gaenswein’s account would “finally make known the true face of certainly one of the best protagonists of recent a long time, too often unjustly denigrated by critics as ‘Panzerkardinal’ or ‘God’s Rottweiler,’” it said.
“Today, after the death of the pope emeritus, the time has come for the present prefect of the papal household to inform his own truth concerning the blatant calumnies and dark maneuvers which have tried in vain to forged shadows on the German pontiff’s magisterium and actions,” the press release said.
Gaenswein’s account would “finally make known the true face of certainly one of the best protagonists of recent a long time, too often unjustly denigrated by critics as ‘Panzerkardinal’ or ‘God’s Rottweiler,’” it said, referring to some common media nicknames for the German known for his conservative, doctrinaire bent.
Specifically, the publisher said Gaenswein would address the “Vatileaks” scandal, by which Benedict’s own butler leaked his personal correspondence to a journalist, in addition to clergy sex abuse scandals and certainly one of the enduring mysteries of the Vatican, the 1983 disappearance of the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican worker, Emanuela Orlandi.
The book appears to be just part of what’s shaping up as a postmortem media blitz by Gaenswein, including the discharge Monday of excerpts of a lengthy interview he granted Italian state RAI television last month that’s to be broadcast Thursday after the funeral.
The book appears to be just part of what’s shaping up as a postmortem media blitz by Gaenswein.
In line with the excerpts published by La Repubblica newspaper, Gaenswein recounted how he tried to dissuade Benedict from resigning after the then-pope told him in late September 2012 that he had made up his mind. That was six months after Benedict took a nighttime fall during a visit to Mexico and determined he not could handle the trials of the job.
“He told me: ‘You may imagine I even have thought long and hard about this, I’ve reflected, I’ve prayed, I’ve struggled. And now I’m communicating to you that a choice has been taken, it’s not up for discussion,’” Gaenswein recalled Benedict saying.
Gaenswein also referred to the struggles, scandals and problems Benedict faced during his eight-year pontificate, recalling he had asked for prayers initially to guard him from the “wolves” who were out to get him. Gaenswein cited specifically the “Vatileaks” betrayal, which resulted within the butler being convicted by the Vatican tribunal, only to be pardoned by the pope two months before his resignation.
“Anyone who thinks there generally is a calm papacy has got the flawed career,” he said.
