Pope Francis

In an interview with La Repubblica, Pope Benedict’s longtime personal secretary discusses Benedict XVI and Pope Francis’s relationship, including tensions over the traditional Mass. Archbishop Georg Gänswein has said that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI never criticised the restrictions imposed on the traditional Mass by Pope Francis, despite being personally troubled by them. In an interview published by La Repubblica on April 20, Archbishop Gänswein, who served for years as Benedict’s personal secretary, said: “Benedict never commented on Pope Francis’s motu proprio Traditionis custodes. In my book I wrote that when we read L’Osservatore Romano [about Traditionis custodes], Benedict’s heart grew heavy. That is true, but I am the one saying it, not him.” There was only one Pope. The other was still called Pope, but he was in reality the Pope Emeritus. That is a very important difference. The archbishop, now Apostolic nuncio in Lithuania, also spoke at length about the unprecedented coexistence of two popes following Benedict’s resignation in 2013. “There was only one Pope. The other was still called Pope, but he was in reality the Pope Emeritus. That is a very important difference,” he said. He added that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI himself took visible steps to mark the distinction, removing elements of papal dress and adopting a simpler presentation, even as he retained the title “Pope Emeritus”, which Gänswein confirmed “he chose himself”. Responding to claims that the resignation had been shaped by scandal, Gänswein rejected any link to the Vatileaks scandal or other controversies. “None of what you have recalled had anything to do with it. Neither Vatileaks, nor the so called ‘gay lobbies’, nor anything else. The resignation was the fruit of deep reflection and intense prayer. The Pope put the question to his conscience and then made his decision.” He recalled the moment of the conclave that elected Francis. When he met the newly elected Pope, Gänswein said Francis spoke first: “I would like to meet Benedict. Can you help me?” The first meeting between the two men took place at Castel Gandolfo on March 23, 2013. Gänswein said the encounter was marked by mutual deference. The interview also addressed perceptions of tension between the two pontificates. Archbishop Gänswein said reports of sustained opposition organised around Benedict were exaggerated. “From what I experienced, the real situation was greatly exaggerated.” He acknowledged that “there were some observations about Francis’s behaviour and choices”, but added: “It is perfectly normal to comment on a Pope’s decisions; it is not in itself forbidden.” The remarks of Archbishop Georg Gänswein over recent years, taken together with testimony from those close to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, suggest a more restrained relationship than some accounts presented during the years of his retirement alongside Pope Francis. The evidence increasingly suggests that the relationship may have been difficult, even if this was never publicly acknowledged by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI himself. His silence, long interpreted as serene acquiescence, now appears as an act of discipline intended to avoid any impression of a divided papacy. The clearest point of tension concerns the motu proprio Traditionis custodes, which reversed the more permissive framework established by Benedict for the older form of the Roman rite in Summorum Pontificum. Archbishop Gänswein said in an interview with Die Tagespost on January 20, 2023: “It was very hard. I believe that reading the new motu proprio broke Pope Benedict’s heart because his intention had been to help all those who had found their home in the traditional Mass, to find inner peace, liturgical peace.” Sources close to Archbishop Gänswein and to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI have further confirmed this, telling AdVaticanum that the promulgation of Traditionis custodes “caused [Benedict] pain”. That pain was not expressed publicly. Instead, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI maintained the silence he had promised upon his resignation. More significant, and less often discussed, is the way Archbishop Gänswein’s own position further complicates the picture. Once Prefect of the Papal Household, he was effectively sidelined and later sent to Germany and then the Baltics as nuncio. The same sources told AdVaticanum that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI made both formal and informal requests that his secretary be allowed to remain in the Vatican. They said: “There wasn’t an actual relationship. Sometimes Benedict asked favours of Francis to keep Gänswein in the Vatican and not remove him, both formally and informally.” These requests, it is said, went unanswered. Historically, the coexistence of a reigning Pope and a Pope Emeritus was itself without precedent in the modern Church. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sought to define that relationship through withdrawal, discretion and loyalty. His intention was to remove himself entirely from the exercise of authority. Yet the very novelty of the situation meant that every gesture and every silence acquired a significance beyond the personal.

The document calls for ethical guardrails and a renewed theology of the human person A Vatican theologian who contributed to the document P ope Francis has released a long-anticipated encyclical addressing the moral and spiritual dimensions of artificial intelligence. The document, titled Lumen Machinae , warns against reducing the human person to a node in a data network and calls on Catholic institutions to lead ethical reflection on emerging technologies at a moment of profound civilizational change. The encyclical draws extensively on the tradition of Catholic social teaching — particularly Rerum Novarum , Laudato Si’ , and Laudate Deum — and engages directly with recent developments in machine learning, autonomous systems, and large language models. The Pope argues that the Church has a unique contribution to make precisely because it begins with the irreducible dignity of the human person. Theologians and technology ethicists have welcomed the document as a timely contribution to a debate that has largely been dominated by secular voices. Several major technology companies issued statements acknowledging the encyclical, though none committed to specific policy changes in response. The Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education has announced a two-year lecture series on the themes of the document. The machine can calculate, but it cannot love. This distinction is not trivial. It is everything. The encyclical calls for the establishment of international governance frameworks rooted in human dignity, and urges Catholic universities, hospitals, and media organizations to adopt explicit ethical guidelines for AI use. It stops short of calling for a moratorium on any particular technology, but warns that speed of deployment without adequate ethical formation constitutes a form of recklessness incompatible with the Gospel. Early translations are available in twelve languages, with additional editions expected within the month. The document has already generated significant commentary from philosophers, bishops, and technology executives worldwide — and is widely expected to become a touchstone in Catholic intellectual engagement with the digital age for years to come.