Benedict XVI wanted to be 'Father Benedict' after resignation
December 09, 2014
The former Pope Benedict XVI would prefer to be known as “Father Benedict” rather than “Pope emeritus,” a German journalist reports.
Jorg Bremer, writing for the FAZ, reports that in a private conversation recently, the retired Pontiff told him that when he planned for his resignation, he wanted to be known as “Father Benedict,” but others opposed that suggestion and “I was too weak at that point to enforce it.”
The retired Pope also told Bremer that he welcomes the energy that Pope Francis has brought to the Vatican. He said that he could not have produced the same results “with my physical and mental weaknesses,” and he had concluded that it “would not have been honest” to remain in office because of his limitations.
The Pope-emeritus—or Father Benedict—said that it was “utter nonsense” to say that the recent revision of a 1972 essay, in which he had discussed the possibility of allowing Communion for Catholics who are divorced and remarried—was an effort to inject himself into the current debate on that question. He explained that his views on that topic were already well known. He said that he has tried “to be as quiet about it as I can” to avoid confusing the faithful.
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