No hidden reasons for Pope Benedict's resignation, longtime secretary says
February 14, 2014
In an interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the longtime personal secretary to Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI, said that the retired Pontiff is "at ease“ with his quiet life in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery.
Archbishop Gänswein agreed with Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, that it would be inaccurate to describe the retired Pope as isolated. Benedict receives some visitors and a great deal of mail, for which he is grateful, his aide said.
The archbishop insisted that there were no secret reasons for Pope Benedict’s resignation. The Pope explained that he was convinced he no longer had the strength and energy to handle the work required of the papacy. "There are no other reasons,“ Archbishop Gänswein said. "Anyone who looks for other reasons is speculating: they have nothing to do with it.“
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
