Posted on 02/10/2014 12:50:07 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o
A year after his shock resignation, Pope Emeritus Benedict has no regrets and believes history will vindicate his tumultuous and much-criticised papacy, the man closest to him told Reuters in a rare interview.
"Pope Benedict is at peace with himself and I think he is even at peace with the Lord," said Archbishop Georg Ganswein ,who is in contact with the current and former pope daily.
Ganswein, who has been at Benedict's side since before his election in 2005, said the former pope had no regrets about leaving office and held no resentment against his critics who the Vatican says misunderstood him.
"The measure of one's work, of one's way of doing things, is not what the mass media write but what is just before God and before conscience."
"I am certain, indeed convinced, that history will offer a judgment that will be different than what one often read in the last years of his pontificate," Ganswein said in a telephone interview.
Benedict, who now resides in a former convent in the Vatican gardens, said before he left office that he would live out his days "hidden from the world" in prayer and isolation. He has been photographed only four times since then.
"Indeed, he is far from the world but he is present in the Church. His mission now, as he once said, is to help the Church and his successor, Pope Francis, through prayer. This is his first and most important task," Ganswein said.
When Benedict decided to stay in the Vatican, there was much speculation that the decision could have a destabilising effect on the Church but the fears did not materialise.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
"He said Benedict spends his time studying, reading, handling correspondence, receiving visitors, playing the piano and praying while taking walks in the Vatican gardens.
"He is well but certainly he is a person who carries the weight of his years. So, he is a man who is physically old but his spirit is very vivacious and very clear," Ganswein said.
I love Pope Benedict so very much. He is really absorbed in prayer.
We may not be in for easy times, but all times are God's times.
I disagreed that "secretly dying" was the reason for his suddenly resignation, and got flamed for saying so.
I wish he would have stayed on the job.
The new Pope sounds a lot like BHO when he gets on the topic of economics.
There's always someone else purporting to speak for the Pope. It's like Catholics don't trust popes to speak for themselves, or can't wait to spin his words to mean something they don't.
IB4TPWM*A*
I thought he was sick. Turns out I was wrong, and I’m glad.
In a number of ways, that is a very strange photo, kind of like one of those Dr. Who episodes where Dr. Whos from different times get together.
Agreed; it’s just not anything anyone is accustomed to seeing.
A man who is at peace with his Lord and his Heavenly Father after a lifetime of service to others should have no regrets.
he resigned so he could train for the two man luge in Sochi.
Continuing to pray for Pope Benedict.
Well, haters gots to be hatin’. It’s how they roll.
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