He was and likely remains infected with a certain deranged academic opinion.
He seems to be half in, half out on whether a pastor at the level of bishop or Pope can shed the spiritual role of shepherd, sometimes acknowledoing that one or more popes have successfully resigned in the past, other times saying that he himself cannot walk away from an office that has entered his being, as if it is in some strange way akin to a sacramental marriage beween a man and a woman, 1 plus one equals one.
He also has had a 50 plus year love affair with the notion of the papacy being divisable tow or even three or more ways. At a minimum he will tell you with a straight face that one Bishop in White can carry out the official functions of the papacy by occupying the earthbound position of the Bishop of Rome. On the other hand he will also say that an entirely different individual can occupy himself with the purely spiritual or supernatural dimensions of the papacy by serving as the Vicar of Christ.
Bergoglio, who with more or less the first words out of his mouth after assuming the name Francis referred to himself as Bishop of Rome, has embarrassingly and obviously shunned and snuffed out all references to him holding the title of Vicar of Christ.
Benedict XVI’s every breath fairly exudes the statement that he remains the Vicar of Christ.
The office of Pope is not divisible or bifurcatable. This is a clear error under Catholic Canon law. Benedict XVI remains pope and Bergoglio is and has always been an antipope. With one press conference, either before or after Bergoglio’s death, Benedict can set this right by admitting his error. His first order of business would then be formally to demote all individuals elevated to the Bishopric or Cardinalate by Antipope Bergoglio (I say formally because technically none of them were ever actually so elevated). He could then do whatever he wishes, including naming new bishops and cardinals, or resigning properly this time, or, if his time has come, quietly die. Either of the latter would of course trigger the formation of a new pope-electing conclave in which no individuals faux-elevated to the cardinalate by Bergoglio will be allowed to vote.
His bizarre notion that the Papacy can be “spread out” over two different individuals gives additional credence to the idea that Benedict’s resignation was invalid.