This anecdote has been revealed by Archbishop Georg Gaenswein in a interview granted to the German television network Zdf (and posted in the religious information portal korazym.org). Monsignor Gaenswein is Benedict XVI’s private secretary and the Prefect of the Pontifical Household under Pope Francis, thus playing the role of sort of a «bridge between two Popes.»

In this capacity, Monsignor Ganswein also transmitted the messages (always more frequent) and invitations Pope Francis sends to Pope Benedict.  In July 2013, Benedict XVI was invited to take part of the unveiling of the statue of Saint Michael the Archangel in the Vatican gardens. Following that, Pope Francis visited the monastery Mater Ecclesiae in Vatican City State, where the Pope emeritus is now living. The visit Pope Francis paid Benedict to wish him a merry Christmas was then followed, shortly after Christmas, by a lunch together at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis is living. And finally, Pope Francis invited Benedict XVI to take part in the Consistory of February 22, when the Pope emeritus sat among the cardinals, as first in dignity but at the same time “primus inter pares.”

«The Pope emeritus is an institution,» Pope Francis said in a recent interview. That Pope Francis gives particular consideration to the recommendations and the presence of this institution is proved by the fact the he sent Benedict XVI the first printed copy of the interview he granted to the editor of “Civiltà Cattolica”, Father Antonio Spadaro. They were not mere notes. Pope Francis asked Benedict XVI for comments. And Benedict XVI – in Monsignor Gaenswein’s words – made his homework and sent Pope Francis a series of remarks, in four pages.

What the remarks were about is a mystery that Monsignor Gaenswein does not want to unveil. In any case, Father Spadaro recently published a book which included the interview, and explained in that there had been some touch-ups, with unedited part of the interviews and some slight modifications. «It is a sort of definitive version,» fr. Antonio Spadaro maintained. This is significant.

In fact, the counsel of Benedict XVI can be seen behind some of Pope Francis’ recent decisions. Step by step, one piece after another of advice, Pope Francis reshaped his revolution. He institutionalized the group of Eight Cardinals (which he first thought should be only informal). He has limited his vague statements, which are now more focused on the gospel and are less off-the-cuff comments.  He has started to trust and value advisers from within the Church, after a season in which the (really expensive) hiring of external consultants had become, it seems, the rule.

Certainly, there is also some of Benedict XVI’s influence in the trust that the incumbent Pope is  increasingly placing on Monsignor Alfred Xuereb, formerly the Pope emeritus second secretary and now the first secretary of Pope Francis, thanks to a recommendation letter Benedict XVI wrote for him.

Xuereb, a Maltese, has a diplomatic background few seem to know much about, and great tact addressing issues.  He was first appointed Pope Francis’ delegate in the pontifical commissions dealing with the Institute for Religious (a.k.a. IOR) and with the economic structure of the Holy See, and then prelate general secretary of the newly established Secretariat for the Economy.

In the end, both of Benedict XVI’s secretaries are playing key roles in this pontificate. This certainly bothers those who have supported the narrative that there was a need, after Benedict XVI’s pontificate, for a change in course. Maybe we should read under this light the most recent attacks against Georg Gaenswein, the first to be under attack in the Vatileaks scandal and yet working side by side to both Popes. A media outlet has called for Gaenswein to resign from his position of confidence to the Pope, because of some statements made in an interview to a German media which have been taken out of proportion.

Monsignor Gaenswein and Monsignor Xuereb are very valuable to a Pope that, as has been noted, engages reforms in rushes of impetus, and without having a general project (as he admitted in his most recent interview).

Pope Francis nevertheless wants to walk on and continue the path traced by Benedict XVI, who made of the joy of the faith the main focus of his pontificate.  A joy he linked to the reasonableness of faith. Benedict strongly spoke against the Church becoming entrenched behind a fortress of moralisms, but rather always restated the truth of the faith. He asked for a demundanization of the Catholic Church, and at the same time underscored that the Curia and the ecclesiastical institution are part of the body of Christ, i.e. the Church.

Every assertion by Benedict XVI was balanced by a further explanation. This is something that appears to be missing in Pope Francis’ dialectic. Beyond the broad discussion about Pope Francis’ discussion on negotiable and non-negotiable values (which can only be understood if placed in an Italian context), Pope Francis has shown that he does not wish to argue against the spirit of the world: he prefers to run to the encounter of the world. This approach is commendable, and at the same time carries the risk of Pope Francis remaining vague on important themes, not directly addressing the issues at the heart of the Church today.

In fact, Pope Francis acts instinctively. Monsignor Xuereb revealed in an interview that, when Pope Francis must take a decision, he prays and meditate, and when he feels something is persistently coming back to mind, he understands it is the right decision to take. So, to counterbalance Pope Francis’ instinctiveness, there is a need for someone to show him the nuances and guide the balanced dialectic needed when you are the Bishop of Rome. Who better than Benedict to advise the pope?

Benedict XVI began his pontificate acting as a professor, favoring wide open debate. Thus creating much discussion, and at the same time several controversies: but it was always the Pope speaking.

Benedict XVI later fine-tuned his speeches, calibrated his approach and found a way to express himself in a more balanced (I would say ‘Papal’) way. He only returned to the “professor Ratzinger” mode in the last part of his pontificate, when he felt free from the bounds of his ministry. Pope Francis is now called to take a qualitative jump, to really become a Pope in words and in the government of the Church.

Benedict XVI is probably the main person responsible for Pope Francis’ seeking this qualitative jump. Benedict kept the promise he made of obeying and honoring his successor, to the point of becoming an influential and appreciated adviser to the Pope.

The last interview granted by Pope Francis also opens up new scenarios for the future. Pope Francis hinted that “perhaps” there will be other Popes emeritus, leaving open the possibility that he would resign as well in the future. If Benedict XVI is still alive at that time, will there be then a sort of college of Popes emeritus?

The appointment of the Secretariat of State is just one piece of the Curia puzzle. On Aug. 30, Pope Francis fitted another piece, appointing the number two position for the Vatican City State government. Fernando Vergez, who until now headed the Telecommunications Department of the Vatican, held the right qualifications and was appointed.

Parolin will start on his new job on Oct. 15, when Pope Francis will «receive for an audience high- ranking members and officials of the Secretariat of State, »  in order to publicly thank Bertone for his faithful and generous service to the Holy See and to introduce Bertone’s successor to Secretariat of State officials.

Actually, it is a homecoming for Msgr. Parolin: He served in the Secretariat of State from 1992 to 2009, at different posts, most recently and importantly as the Vatican’s equivalent to a vice minister for foreign affairs, overseeing sensitive portfolios and closely following the outcomes of the Second Gulf War. Later, As papal nuncio in Venezuela, Parolin did a great job reconciling the Venezuelan government and the Church.

The new Pro-Secretary of State (Parolin will become Secretary of State only after Pope Francis creates him cardinal) is happy. He issued a press release thanking everyone, from his family to Pope Benedict who «ordained me bishop,»  and affirming that he «stands before this new service to the Gospel, the Church and Pope Francis with trepidation, but also with confidence and serenity, ready – as the Pope always calls for – to walk, build and confess.»

Parolin will work with Bertone’s team, since Pope Francis confirmed all the top Secretariat of State officials.  These include Parolin’s deputy, Msgr. Angelo Becciu; Secretary for Relations with States, Msgr. Dominique Mamberti; Undersecretary for Relations with States, Msgr. Antoine Camilleri; Assessor, Peter Bryan Wells. The Pope also confirmed in his charge the Prefect of the Pontifical Household, Msgr. Georg Gaenswein.

Parolin’s appointment means that a diplomat will once again be heading the Secretariat of State. Card. Bertone, who served as Secretary of State under Pope Benedict XVI, was not a diplomat and he often claimed that he was mostly «a Church secretary.»  Bertone’s critics often lamented and called attention to the fact that he was not a diplomat.

In fact, any pretext was good to attack Bertone. Even Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, a member of the commission appointed by Pope Francis to rationalize Vatican expenses and management, described Bertone as a «corrupt man»  in a tweet. This became public knowledge, but carried no consequences. Nobody, from inside the Vatican, said a word to defend Bertone.  During a lunch he had with the Pope on August 15,  Bertone let it be known that he had taken note of this silence, and told him that he wanted to leave as soon as possible. The Vatican press release specifically and intentionally notes that Pope Francis «will publicly thank»  Bertone in the upcoming meeting.

Angelo Sodano was also present at the lunch with the Pope on Aug. 15. The Secretary of State Emeritus is again a king maker, it seems. In fact, Parolin is widely appreciated, but he is also considered by many observers a Sodano’s man. The same observers note that Fernando Vergez, the new number two of the Vatican City State government, comes from the ranks of the Legionaries of Christ, traditionally a Sodano’s feud. Pope Francis, in the press conference he held coming back from the Rio World Youth Day, underlined that he felt nostalgia for the «old curiale,»  and Sodano is ultimately one of the oldest representatives of a certain idea of the old curia.

Vergez, a Spanish priest hailing from Salamanca, is not only a gentle and competent monsignor who improved the Vatican’s website, which under his direction has expanded to cover seven languages. He is also a Legionary of Christ, and it is rumored that he was one of those who testified that the Legion’s constitution presented to the Pope (and then approved by the Vatican) by the Legion’s founder Marcial Maciel was different from the one used within the religious congregation.

Vergez also stands out because he has been for years the personal secretary of Card. Eduardo Pironio, from Argentina, the unforgotten organizer of World Youth Days.

Vergez will replace the archbishop Giuseppe Sciacca as the second highest-ranking official in the government of Vatican City State. Last Saturday, Sciacca was appointed adjunct secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, a sort of court of last appeal for canon law. When friends of Pope Francis are asked about the reasons for giving Msgr Sciacca a new assignment, they explain that the Pope thought about strengthening the Signature, following a typical Vatican practice to justify with subtle arguments each promoveatur ut amoveatur (promote to remove). In fact, Sciacca is paying for a certain level of activism during the final period of Benedict XVI’ pontificate. His proclivity to call attention to himself and his networking had been considered expressions of careerism that needed to be downplayed.

If Benedict XVI’s team was recruited from the ranks of what used to be the  Sant’Uffizio, Pope Francis’ team will probably be comprised of Argentinians or other Spanish-speaking Church officials who know Latin America’s problems well.  These officials gained the trust of the then- Card. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, when he had to endure a difficult relation with the Vatican Secretariat of State and the Papal nuncios in Argentina over the selection of bishops in that country.

It is thus not surprising that another Argentine priest is hailed as a rising star in the Vatican. He is Msgr. Daniel Alejandro Giorgi, rector of the major seminary in Buenos Aires. Pope Francis has tracked his career from its beginning. Giorgi was also present at the August 15 lunch (which followed the Mass and the Angelus of Ferragosto celebrated by the Pope in Castel Gandolfo).

Pope Francis will probably proceed one step at a time, with no revolutionary, sudden changes. For example, the pressure to dismiss Bertone have been very strong. However, Pope Francis – who often speaks with Benedict XVI and asks for his advice–  resisted the push to oust Bertone, and got Sodano to advocate for Parolin. In fact, pressure may be counterproductive because it raises suspicions. Since Pope Francis likes to work by himself and does not involve the Secretariat of State much, he had no problem with leaving Bertone at his post until now.

According to Vatican sources, Bertone would have kept his post at least until the meeting of the group of cardinals the Pope chose to counsel him on a Curia reform, but it was Bertone himself who insisted on  retiring. The meeting will take place in the Vatican Oct. 1-3.

Pope Francis’ working methods are become ever more clear. Some insiders maintain that, beyond his lack of interest over institutionalization, Pope Francis knows very well what he is doing. He wants to see others backing his views. According to an American monsignor, Pope Francis is acting as one who  «would create a commission to decide how to get from Washington to New York. Everybody knows that the best thing is to take a high-speed train heading north, and everybody knows that a commission would reach this conclusion. The Pope, however, wants to count with a strong backing for his views.»

In fact, the «gang of cardinals» (whose appointments follow a regional diversity model, similar to that of Jesuit commissions) follow this criteria. Pope Francis agrees with the views of each of the cardinals he chose. Particularly – it is rumored – Pope Francis thought is in perfect tune with that of Card. Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston.

The same criteria informed the selection of the members of the commission on the IOR (the so-called Vatican bank) and of the commission to oversee the Vatican government. The commissions will make their proposals, but it remains to be seen what weight Pope Francis will give to these recommendations.

In the meantime, lobbies have flourished and are applying some pressures. This is why Pope Francis would have thought about– encouraged by the work developed under Benedict XVI – to institutionalize his path to renewal. It should not lead, however, to an excessive institutionalization, which Pope Francis would not approve or allow. It would be a way to protect the outcomes of his decisions and to give the Church a solid framework beyond its image, which is for many a renewed image.

The Pope’s meeting with his nuncios had been scheduled as part of the Year of the Faith.  It was to be a sort of spiritual-retreat journey, enriched by a meeting with the pope. Benedict XVI’s renunciation somewhat changed the scope of the event, since it offered the newly elected Pope Francis the first opportunityto meet with his «ambassadors».

Two passages in his remarks in particular alluded to Bergolio’s hardships in Argentina.

The first passage corresponds to Pope Francis’ off-the-cuff remarks (thus not included in the transcript of the speech that was made available as is customary rightbefore he delivered it) regarding the importance of the work of a nuncio. Stating that nuncios are called to «build the Church,» Pope Francis urged them: «Don’t be intermediaries, bemediators instead, and use mediation to bring about communion. Theologians speak about a local Church. I am not a theologian, but theologians say that pontifical representatives and presidents of bishops’ conferences are part of the local Church. The most important work is the mediation, and in order to mediate it is necessary to be informed. It is important to know the people personally, not just what documents –as many and as important as these documents are– may say about them. The personal relationship between the bishop of Rome and you is essential. There is the Secretariat of State that help us to link. Yet, a personal relationship is important, and it must be carried forward on both sides.»

Many might see in this language a public denunciation of the administration of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who still remains as Secretary of State. Bertone was criticized for filtering access to Benedict XVI excessively.  The same kind of criticism was levied against Benedict XVI’s private secretary Georg Gaenswein.

Nevertheless, Vatican sources insist that Bertone – now very close to retirement, to take effect  probably in October – enjoys Pope Francis’ trust, and that the latter even asked him for recommendations regarding eventual promotions. Yes, Bertone might be considered a muddler, but he is certainly loyal.

More likely, Pope Francis’ words referred to his prior experiences with Cardinal Sodano. A papal nuncio to Chile for many years, Sodano acquired an incomparable influence in all of South America. Sodano’s men have been appointed to the ranks of many nunciatures and of the CELAM (the Latin American Bishops’ Conference). Sodano also gained influence thanks to the Legionaries of Christ.  Under Sodano’s tenure as Secretary of State, the wrongdoings of the Legionaries’ founder,Marcial Maciel, were never brought to light.

For years, Sodano was such an active filter for the papal apartment that many news did even reach the first of the four loggias of the Apostolic Palace. It was the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Joseph Ratzinger, who fought for transparency. Ratzinger carried this commitment with him when he was elected Pope. Not by coincidence, his pontificate has been one of the most difficult and attacked of the last 70 years.

The other part of the Pope’s speech to the nuncios that should be circled in red was Pope Francis’ outline of the identikit of the candidates for bishop that the nuncios are called to propose. «Be mindful – Pope Francis says – that the candidates are shepherds close to the people, at their same level and like brothers to the people. May candidates be gentle, patient and merciful; may they love poverty: the interior poverty, as freedom for the Lord, and the exterior poverty, to live a simple and austere life; may they not feel like “princes”». And furthermore: «Be mindful that the candidates to become bishops are not ambitious, that they are not running after the promotion to the episcopate, and that they are spouses of one Church without constantly looking for another one.» Moreover, «may the new bishops be able to oversee the flock that they will be entrusted with, to look after everything that makes the flock stay united; may they be able to watch out for their flocks, particularly to stand vigil with them, to complete the vigil with them, to cherish hope, to illuminate people’s hearts,  to support with love and patience God’s designs for his people.»

A special call, in a speech in which Pope Francis did not offer guidelines for diplomatic action. This is the third aspectof the speech that stands out. For the time being, Pope Francis has left the Holy See diplomatic machine in motion, with the same guidelines introduced under Benedict XVI. The latter changed its diplomatic perspective, and anchored all Holy See diplomatic activity on truth (a theme ever more present in the Holy See’s international relations documents) as it emanates from the Gospel and natural law. Pope Francis seems to share this perspective, so much so that he did not even presented his own guidelines for diplomacy in his first speech to the Corps of Ambassadors accredited to the Holy See.

Pope Francis prefers instead to focus on the spiritual aspect of being a nuncio. This is why he delivered tothe nuncios a speech «written by myself» in which he focused on their responsibility to be shepherds, nomad priests, rather than on theirduties as diplomats.

These guidelines seem to fulfill what he stated on March 14, during the homily at his first mass as pope in the Sistine Chapel, with the cardinals. Our duty – he said – is «to keep walking, to confess and to build.»

For now, Pope Francis is still in the walking mode. He wants to bring the Church to the world, and he wants every believer to come out and reach «existential peripheries». History will tell if he will be the one who will carry forward confessing, which is the purification required before building. How much more sowing will still be needed to have once again a Church that is alive?

Some maintain that Benedict XVI’s pontificate has in effect come to an end, and that everything is to be put on hold. Benedict XVI does not think so. There is no need to accelerate the handling of daily affairs, but they do not come to a halt either. Everything must go on, at normal speed. Appointments for different positions are made as usual, with no exceptions. No matter if there are controversies, if every appointment is exploited and used as an excuse to feed resentments and stir feuds, or to attack the Church. The Church must go on, beyond all of this.

So, this last week, during the Lent Spiritual Retreat, two appointments were published. Scandalous, some cried out. In fact, these appointments had been decided a long time ago. The first appointment is that of the new president of the Religious Works Institute (IOR) Council of Superintendence. Ernst von Freyberg, of the Order of Malta, is a business lawyer with remarkable experience in finance. Meanwhile, nearly all of the IOR Cardinal Commission members will stay on.  The second appointment is that of Ettore Balestrero, currently the Vatican’s «Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs», as apostolic nuncio to Colombia, in order to strengthen the Church in Latin America.

The IOR – a sort of Vatican trust fund – had been nine months without a president.  Since the Council of Superintendence voted to pass a no confidence motion on the former president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the IOR «board of laymen»  had been headed by its vice president, Rolando Schmitz. The latter recommended to use Spencer & Stuart – a specialized «headhunter» agency – to look for candidates for a new president. Since July, specialists from this Frankfurter agency had been visiting the Vatican to gather information about the role of IOR president of the board, and the ideal profile of the next office holder. Spencer & Stuart first identified about 40 candidates, then selected six who were personally interviewed by the Council of Superintendence.  There were three finalists, who were interviewed by both the board of laymen and the board of cardinals.

Finally, the German Ernst von Freyberg was chosen. His managerial experience was not his only qualification. Yet, it is worth noting that he is cofounder and managing director of Dc Advisory Partners.  Formerly he had been an analyst at Three Cities Research, and president of Blohm+Voss, a naval industry. Von Freyberg was also chosen for his catholic credentials. He is an active member of the Order of Malta, a promoter of pilgrimages to Lourdes, and a nobleman. His appointment seemingly signals a return to an ancient practice: the Vatican puts its trust once again on a highly qualified personality from a Catholic and noble family, whose loyalty to the institution is independent from, and goes beyond, job-related contractual obligations.

The mandate of the IOR Cardinal Commission for Oversight, and of the new board, will expire in 2017. Card. Tarcisio Bertone is still the president of the Commission, since he is Secretary of State (he will be replaced when a new Secretary of State is appointed).  The appointments of cardinals Scherer (Brazilian), Toppo, (Indian), and Tauran (French) have been confirmed. Card. Nicora, on the other hand, has left the commission because he was also president of the Authority for Financial Information, which could have lead to a conflict of interest. Nicora had joined the board as the then president of the APSA (the Vatican «central bank»).  He is replaced by his successor as APSA President, Card. Domenico Calcagno.

Choosing a new IOR president was a process which began a long time ago, before Benedict XVI announced his decision to resign from the Petrine ministry. So was the process leading to the appointment of Ettore Balestrero, Undersecretary for Relations with States, as apostolic nuncio to Colombia.

During the past few years, Balestrero has worked to advance the Holy See’s path toward full financial transparency: he led the Holy See delegation at the plenary assembly of MONEYVAL – the body of the Council of Europe that evaluates the adherence of its member states to international standards – and he briefed journalists about the findings of the MONEYVAL report. Ettore Balestrero’s work went beyond, certainly: working as Undersecretary for Relations with States, he worked on the negotiations with the state of Israel and opened up Vietnam – where soon there will be a Holy See resident representative. Before that, he had worked in Korea and the Netherlands, and at the Vatican Secretariat of State, where his portfolio included relations with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). His main interests have always been peace, integral disarmament and religious freedom: he was among the organizers of the first conference ever held on intolerance and discrimination against Christians. While at the Secretariat of State, he also participated in the meeting organized by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace with non-institutional military chaplains. In that occasion, the Colombian military chaplain was present. Was it a sign of what the future held?

Certainly this background was taken into account when Balestrero was chosen to be apostolic nuncio in Colombia. The challenges he will face are those outlined by Benedict XVI in 2012. The Pope met Colombian bishops during their ad limina visit, and asked them to strengthen catechesis and relations with other Christian confessions. But he also underlined that bishops should not forget those «compelled to emigrate from their homeland» or those «harmed in their fundamental rights» or «forced to abandon their homes or families under the threat of the obscure hand of terror or of criminality», or still «those who have fallen in the nefarious networks of trade in arms and drugs. » The Catholic Church looks at Colombia with much interest: it has 102 bishops and a lively Church, so much so that there was talk of a papal apostolic visit. This project did not come to fruition with Benedict XVI, but may very well happen with his successor.

Balestrero’s appointment had been announced together with that of the new apostolic nuncio to El Salvador (Msgr. Leòn Kalenga) and that of the apostolic nuncio to Liberia (Miroslaw Adamczyk), the latter on his very first postings as “Pope’s ambassadors”. All of these appointments come at the end of a cursus honorum of about 15 years. Balestrero’s appointment, ultimately, has a precise goal: to strengthen the Church in Latin America. That is why Balestrero’s predecessor in the Secretariat of State, Pietro Parolin, was assigned apostolic nuncio to Venezuela, and its former head of protocol, Fortunatus Nwachukwu, was appointed Papal nuncio to Nicaragua.

In front of the Roman clergy, he spoke for one hour off-the-cuff, with no hesitation and with a certain serenity. And he denounced one of the “issues” with the Church, probably for him the pivotal one. Which is that there had been two Second Vatican Councils: one of the Fathers and one of the media. The latter deprived the Council of its content, used the Council’s key words to make the sacred profane, to maintain that ministers are not important and that laymen should democratically assume power. A political view of the Church, the virtual version of the Second Vatican Council, won the media. But now the real version is coming afloat, albeit with difficulty. Strength, tenacity, and a capacity of renewal are required. Benedict XVI doesn’t feel in himself that strength. So he resigned Peter’s ministerium.

Yet, Benedict XVI’s renunciation was not painful. Coherent with what he always said and wrote, the Pope trusted in God. His last actions as Pope – following an unchanged schedule – will be the Pope’s legacy to his successor. A legacy and path Benedict XVI already hinted at when he announced his renounce.

Monday, February, 11, the Madonna of Lourdes commemoration and a holyday at Vatican City State because of the anniversary of the Lateran Pacts. Cardinals in Rome gathered in a public ordinary consistory, with the aim to set a date for three canonizations. At the end of the Consistory, the Pope speaks in Latin, and declares that «with full freedom» and «well aware of the seriousness of this act» he renounces the ministry of Bishop of Rome entrusted to him 19 April 2005. Because, the Pope explains, «in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith», he feels that he lacks the strength of mind and body to carry on with his ministry.

 Those words already set the profile for the next Pope. Part of Benedict’s legacy will be in every word he utters, every speech he will deliver until February 28 – when the Sede Vacante (Vacant See) will officially begin. It was clear in the meeting with the Roman clergy, on Thursday, February 14^th. Priests of Rome asked the Pope to tell them about the Second Vatican Council. He suggested to “chat” with them, and spoke calmly. He remembered the enthusiasm of the Council, he traveled again through the Council’s main issues (liturgy, ecclesiology, revelation, ecumenism and religious freedom). He contrasted the «Virtual Second Vatican Council» with the «Real Vatican Council». «People – the Pope said – have heard about the Council according to the media, not the Council according to the Fathers. While the Council according to the Fathers was within the sphere of faith, the Council according to journalists was explained from a different perspective (i.e. not from faith), with a different hermeneutic: a political hermeneutic, a battle for power among the different parties. Surely, the media sided with those  advocating for the Church’s decentralization, for more power for bishops and then – through the use of the word “People of God” – for power for laymen. This media’s Council – accessible to all – «created so many calamities and problems and miseries: closed seminaries, closed convents, trivialized religion. So the true Council had many difficulties in taking shape, to realize itself. The virtual Council was stronger than the real Council. But the real strength of the Council has been present, and step by step it becomes concrete and becomes the real strength.»

 This program requires strength to be implemented. Benedict XVI’s program has been an ambitious one: returning the Church to God. How to do this, despite the poisonous influence of a Church (a Curia) suffering from the gangrene of careerism, against a Church perhaps excessively deferential  to the media, with the risk of trivializing solemn occasions and liturgies?  Like the Benedictines, the Pope wished to go beyond. He climbed high up, from where his thought could fly afar and reach everybody. As Saint Benedict from his cloister, Benedict XVI aimed at a new civilization, using his speeches as the building blocks of a Cathedral, moving attention away from gestures and actions and focusing instead on a deeper thought and theology, thus avoiding any trivialization.

The Pope explained and lived faith with reason, because faith is reasonable, alive and real — a fundamental and constant notion in Ratzinger’s theological work. The Curia, however, was still entangled in the long  legacy of John Paul II’s era. A renovation program needs a lot of strength to be carried out. Benedict XVI felt he had established the foundations, and that – through his theology and work – he had built a solid framework of thought. Now, there is a need for someone able to revolutionize everything, to change a mentality. And Benedict XVI knows that this someone cannot be him, who lived in Wojtyla’s Curia, being a voice in opposition, maybe the only voice.

When did Benedict XVI took this decision? There was not a precise moment. Those who know the Pope well can see that he had set a goal line and made headway to reach it. The time to step down was not – as the Pope told Peter Seewald in the book/interview Light of the World – in the midst of the clergy child abuse scandal. Nor was it time to step down when the Year of Faith was to begin, as all of Benedict XVI’s pontificate had pointed toward the Year of Faith. The time to step down was not during the Vatileaks scandal. At the beginning of his Pontificate, the Pope prayed for the courage of not running away when faced by the wolves. He did not. Now was the right time to step down: everything had been put in order with his most recent decisions, which really seemed intended to bring his pontificate to a close.

While there was not a single event solely responsible for the decision, perhaps the Pope’s meeting Paolo Gabriele in jail, the day the butler was pardoned, represents a turning point. Paolo Gabriele is the unfaithful butler who was sentenced to one year and a half imprisonment for leaking the Pope’s personal papers. The photographs show a butler who looks like a daring head of state who had finally succeeded in meeting the Pontiff. The Pope, indeed, seemed a little astonished, probably because of the butler’s self assurance – Gabriele now works at the Vatican-affiliated Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesù, far from Vatican walls. Many inside the Vatican – especially among those most loyal to the Pope – disliked that portrait: Paolo Gabriele facing imprisonment with self assurance, and then behaving presumptuously after his pardon and liberation. Benedict XVI was surely not indifferent to all of this. Was Paolo Gabriele, Vatileaks’ artifex, just a man unprepared to deal with an unexpected career jump, and who then attributed to himself the role of defender and savior of the Church? Or was he influenced by other «parties» made up of those who – during the sunset of John Paul II’s Pontificate – ruled everything and later ill-received Benedict XVI’s new course?

A Pope can also ponder about these issues. Several days before he pardoned Paolo Gabriele, the Pope met with the Cardinal Commission charged with investigating the leaks of documents. The three cardinals reportedly gave him a dossier with information from their interviews with Vatican staff, which made him realize the extent of the network working against his wishes to make the Church more transparent and pure.

Perhaps Benedict XVI had wished to stay through the conclusion of the Year of Faith. Vatileaks, in fact, changed everything. They wanted the Pope to get rid of Card. Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, or at least of his personal secretary, Georg Gaenswein. Benedict XVI made an unprecedented choice: he stepped down, leaving both Bertone and Gaenswein at their posts. A powerful retaliation: Bertone is Chamberlain, and as such will remain at his post during the Sede Vacante  and the conclave. And Gaenswein, recently appointed Prefect of the Pontifical Household and ordained archbishop, will keep his post as well, to manage everyday affairs. In fact, Chamberlain and Prefect are the only two posts that specifically retain their portfolios during the Sede Vacante. Moreover: Gaenswein – and this prove that he is very close to Ratzinger – will go on being Benedict XVI’s personal secretary, and eventually he may take over the management of the Ratzinger Foundation, established to perpetuate the memory of Benedict XVI’s thought and work.

Benedict XVI has wanted to avoid going through a long «end of the pontificate» period, as in John Paul II’s last ten years. During that period, many appointments were not Wojtyla’s, speeches were not Wojtyla’s, and the choices were not Wojtyla’s. During those ten years, a hard core of clerks, monsignors, and nuncios rose within the Curia, who later made Pope Benedict’s  path more difficult.

Inside the Vatican, there are always the same faces, as portrayed by a wonderful picture in the last page of the Vatican daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, in its February 11^th edition. Angelo Sodano, Bertone’s predecessor as Secretary of State, will not be in the conclave: too old. His faction is made up of many of the diplomats he formed, headed by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches. Sandri was among the very first people to be transferred to a new post under Benedict XVI. Many of the attacks against Bertone came from Sodano’s party, which will probably support the idea of a discontinuity with the current Pontificate, believing there is a need to have a Pope that is more focused on management than on faith.

Yet, the College of Cardinals is very Ratzingerian. In the five consistories he convoked, Benedict XVI created 90 cardinals (hailing from 37 different countries): 84 are still alive, 67 will be in the conclave, where a majority of 78 cardinals is needed to elect the new Pope. Ratzinger’s cardinals will constitute the hard core of a college willing to inherit and carry on Benedict XVI’s legacy. It will help that the Pope will live within the Vatican Walls, at the Mater Ecclesiae, formerly a seclusion convent. This choice gives a new pope the maximum level of discretion and the greatest possibility of access to his predecessor, allowing them to confidentially discuss the Church’s current affairs. (Maybe even to re-visit the dossiers which Ratzinger consulted when he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – dossiers which were rumored to have been left behind in Ratzinger’s former apartment, in piazza della Città Leonina, where now Ludwing Mueller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and curator of Ratzinger’s opera omnia, lives.)

What will the next pope be like? One can hazard a guess, based on Benedict XVI’s most recent  speeches: he will be a «young Pope» (60-70 years old), very close to the outgoing Pope, able to renovate and at the same time to lead the ship of Peter within the tradition. Card. Cristoph Schoenborn, Archbishop of Wien, would seem to be the most suitable choice, for his résumé. Schoenborn, with the counsel of Ratzinger – at the time Prefect of the former Sant’Uffizio – forcefully confronted clergy pedophilia scandals in Austria in the mid-Nineties, and is a dedicated pupil of Benedict XVI. But he has attracted some negative press coverage. Schoenberg was compelled to publicly apologize after he spoke critically about how Sodano, when he was Secretary of State, had managed the clergy sex abuse scandals. Schoenborn is perceived as unreliable in governance.  Would he be  agreeable  to all?

This is a time when Cardinals’ profiles are under scrutiny.  Under the spotlight are: Tagle, the young Filipino Cardinal; Ouellet, the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops; and Odilo Pedro Scherer, Archbishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and member of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) Cardinal Commission. It is a time when links are revealed. But what will become of all the knots tied toward a conclave that was not imminent, had it taken place after Benedict XVI’s death? What will be of the trusted relationship with Georg Gaenswein that many heralded or sought? Which of the fluctuating friendships will now be determining?

With his renunciation, Benedict XVI has profoundly shaken all of the above.  He has done it with a logic that has its own theological terminology, “un-mundanizing”, which he used during his most recent trip to Germany. The Pope underlined that secular trends had been in some ways providential to the Church, because they made the Church less worldly. Un-mundanizing, i.e. separate and unify. Benedict XVI is the only sovereign able to separate himself from the things of the world, with the aim of reuniting the  Church.

Benedict XVI choice is full of humility. The Pope personally assumed the question at the center of the general audience of Wednesday, February 13^th. «What is the God’s place in my life? Is he the Lord, or is it me?» Benedict XVI then explained: «The option between the closure of our selfishness and the opening to the love of God and others» is «the option between the human power and the power of the cross, between a redemption seen in the only material wealth and a redemption as God’s endeavor». To convert – the Pope concluded – «means not to be close in the search of his own success, prestige and post, but to get that every day, in small things, truth, faith in God and love become the most important thing». This principle, Benedict XVI put into practice as Pope: conscious that the Church is Christ’s, he decided to renounce his ministry.

And in the evening, during the Ash Wednesday celebration, he asked if it was possible to turn back to God, and he said that turning back to God could concretize in our life only when the Grace of Lord penetrate in the inner of ourselves and shake this inner, giving us the strength to rip the heart apart. «In our own day – the Pope said – lots of people are ready to “rend their clothing” in the face of scandals and acts of injustice – the fault naturally of others – but few seem prepared to do something about their own “hearts”, their own consciences and their own intentions, allowing the Lord to transform, renew and convert them».

That homily was precious, in pure Ratzinger style. It recalled that freedom of thought and expression that Ratzinger embraced during the 2005 Sede Vacante and at the outset of his Pontificate. Later, the Pope adopted a more papal mode of speech, which somewhat lacked this special ability to shake the conscience.

Now professor Ratzinger is back, and Pope Benedict is leaving a precise legacy. Will the cardinals know how to carry it forward?

Right after the homily, the Pope ordained four bishops: Angelo Vincenzo Zani, Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education; Nicolas Henry Marie Thevenin, appointed Papal Nuncio in Guatemala; FortunatusNwachukwu, former head of protocol of the Vatican Secretariat of State, who will be Papal Nuncio in Nicaragua; and Georg Gaenswein, personal secretary of His Holiness. From each of them a good dose of courage will be demanded, to face the challenges of the times.  Zani is the number two of the Congregation for Catholic Education, which recently lost responsibility for the administration of seminaries – a decision that many in the Sacred Palaces still do not understand; Thevenin has been often under attack for his personal loyalty to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State; Nwachukwu was promoted to Papal Nuncio and sent to a faraway –yet of a great Catholic tradition– country, and some have interpreted this appointment as a consequence of the “blood feud” that followed theVatileaks scandal; and finally Gaenswein, who was placed more than anyone else at the center of attention of Vatileaks, was able to come out of it exonerated and to obtain in the process more than a moral victory.

These bishops faced courageously all the polemics. Gaenswein and Nwachukwu wanted to dispel rumors of tension between them with a course of action that was as eloquent as only Vatican ceremonials can be: they went together to greet the new Cardinals in the last consistory in November. And Gaenswein – accused of being unfit to be Papal secretary, or even not completely faithful to Benedict XVI – wanted to make of his Episcopal blazon an hymn of his attachment to the Pope. Gaenswein assumption of the post of Prefect of the Pontifical Household – added to his responsibilities asthe Pope’s personal secretary – gave Gaenswein the option to use a quadrant of his coat of arms to insert the reigning Pope’s blazon.

It is a heraldic privilege that don Giorgio (as Gaenswein is known in Rome) readily exercised.  Thus, Gaenswein’s blazon shows to the left Benedict XVI’s coat of arms: a brown bear loaded with a pack of lumber on his back, a refence to an old Bavarian legend about the first bishop and patron saint of the Diocese of Freising, St. Corbinian; the large gold shell that recalls a legend in which St. Augustine came across a boy on the seashore who was scooping water from the sea and pouring it into a small hole he had dug in the sand; a brown-faced Moor with red lips, crown and collar, a symbol of the former Diocese of Freising dating back to the eighth century that according to Ratzinger is «an expression of the universality of the Church which knows no distinctions of race or class since all are one in Christ». The right portion of Gaenswein’s coat of arms presents a dragon. In heraldry, dragons symbolize fidelity; in ecclesiastic heraldry, it recalls the dragon defeated by Saint George – whom Gaenswein was named after. The dragon belch out fire toward «the house of Ratzinger» (the left section of the shield). It is on a blue background, and the upper right section of the shield depict the star of Bethlehem. From that star, the spear that kills the dragon comes, also a Marian reference. Perhaps, the choicesin this coat of armsallude to the bitter memories of the Vatileaks scandal, when the Pope and Gaenswein himself were under attack.

But Gaenswein is now stronger than ever. His Episcopal motto is telling: Testimonium perhibere veritati, «witnessing the truth». Gaenswein’s motto recalls the Pope’s own Cooperatores veritatis, cooperators of truth. Does it prefigure for Gaenswein a more operational role with the Ratzinger Foundation, committed to promoting awareness of Benedict XVI’s papers and books?

Fortunatus Nwachukwu’s motto, on the other hand, is completely different: Solvere calceamenta, take your shoes off. This motto – the Nigerian Archbishop himself explained – «recalls mission and service. Both mission and service are rooted in the word of God, and are brought to completion in the Cross of Incarnation and in the universal embrace.» Nwachukwu coat of arms depicts a shoe under the book with the Alfa and Omega and the Cross. Ultimately, the «take your shoes off» that God orders to Moses in front of the burning bush was also the theme of the spiritual exercises that Nwachukwu lead some years ago and that have been published. The book is a tool to reflecton the hard effort and the challenge that every conversion entails, taking as examples Moses, Bartimaeus the blind, and the prodigal son. Nwachukwu took a courageous decision: he celebrated the thanksgiving mass in the Cathedral of Christ the King in Aba,in his native Nigeria. A Nigeria that with increasing frequency hasgrasped media attention for indiscriminate and frequent attacks on Christians: there, the sect Boko Haram carries out a war of bombings targeting the faithful coming out of Churches; but also there, Christians and Muslims try nevertheless to live peacefully side by side, despite the attacks.

Even Benedict XVI spoke about Nigeria, in his traditional New Year’s speech to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See. The speech focused on three pillars: human rights, religious freedom, and conscientious objection. Here in all diplomatic efforts are encompassed. There is no separation between a social agenda and an agenda for life issues, there is not a divide between the Gospel and diplomacy, as is often maintained – as if the Holy See’s diplomacy could be something detached from the truth of the Gospel. There is a diplomacy that comes directly from the Gospel and the teaching of Jesus Christ.

The Christian philosopher Emmanuel Mounier once wrote: «When Christ said: ‘My kingdom is not of this world’, he did not say that we are not of this world, but that his message was not directly for the happy settlement of this world. This settlement we want to work for, facing directly the difficulties of our times and not discouraging Christian transcendence with weak settlement, ridiculous for the world and for God.»

This quote is from Mounier’s «Agony of Christianity?» published in the 1946. Nowadays, the question mark of that title seem to have turned into an exclamation point. This agony does not refer exclusively to Christianity: it has to do with all religions. «Peace in society – the Pope said to the ambassadors – is also put at risk by certain threats to religious liberty: it is a question sometimes of the marginalization of religion in social life; sometimes of intolerance or even of violence towards individuals, symbols of religious identity and religious institutions.»

Agony of religions does not only come from the mortal blow struck against religious thought broadly. It comes from the fact thatsociety increasingly puts God aside. «It is precisely man’s forgetfulness of God – Benedict XVI maintains – and his failure to give him glory, which gives rise to violence. Indeed, once we no longer make reference to an objective and transcendent truth, how is it possible to achieve an authentic dialogue?»

In his world overview, Benedict XVI begins from the conflict that are taking place in Syria, Iraq and several African countries; he asks for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian question; he indicates the example of Lebanon, a country where the plurality of religious traditions is part of that country’s wealth, more than a reason for conflict; he finally notes «with dismay that, in various countries, even those of Christian tradition, efforts are being made to introduce or expand legislation which decriminalizes abortion». The most recent and illustrative case is that of the Philippines, where the Reproductive Health Bill has become law. In addition, the last report of the Social Doctrine in the World, entitled «Colonization of the human being», focuses on Argentina as a «case study», where four different modifications of the laws has brought about, ideologically, to the  «rebuilding» of what a human being is according to law. What a human being is, and how to protect him, combating the «new rights», is part of the long term mission of the Holy See.

In fact, grave concern for the «new laws» that alienate the human person was already contained in the Immortale Dei encyclical by Pope Leo XIII. Leo XIII gave birth to Catholic Social Doctrine, and his encyclical Rerum Novarum is considered the first of the social encyclicals. In fact, there is a whole corpus of Leo XIII’s social encyclicals. Immortale Dei is the first of these encyclicals, and gives the Leonianum Corpus a theological background, presenting the model of Christian society and the anti-model that is still nowadays seeking to establish itself in international bodies – for example, recently the right to abortion has been subtly inserted in a UN resolution, which could compel national legislationsto guide themselves by the resolution and even to believe that abortion needs to be part of their laws.

That is why the Pope underlined in his speech to ambassadors that «especially in the West, one frequently encounters ambiguities about the meaning of human rights and their corresponding duties. Rights are often confused with exaggerated manifestations of the autonomy of the individual, who becomes self-referential, no longer open to encounter with God and with others, and absorbed only in seeking to satisfy his or her own needs. To be authentic, the defence of rights must instead consider human beings integrally, in their personal and communitarian dimensions.»

These are challenges that the new bishops must confront, with courage to walk out of step with the prevalent thinking. The Pope’s exhortation is for bishops who will make use of this courage in the international arena – like Nwachukwu and Thevenin; for bishops that will have to be courageous within the Roman Curia; and for bishops in every Catholic diocese, who must be courageous enough to lead the faithful. So, Benedict XVI’s homily in the Solemnity of the Epiphany mass is a universal exhortation that is closely linked to the speech to the ambassadors. In the end, Holy See diplomacy is rooted in the Gospel. This is the Pope’s message.

What did the Pope wish when he was 7? «I would like – he wrote – the Volks-Schott, a green suit to celebrate the Holy Mass and a Jesus’ Heart. I will always be good. Best regards, Joseph Ratzinger.» The letter was so peculiar that Maria – the Pope’s sister, who took care of Ratzinger until her death – decided to keep it. The letter was recovered when Ratzinger’s house in Pentling was being restored. The house is now a museum, inaugurated at the end of last summer by Georg Gaenswein, then Benedict XVI’s private secretary. Gaenswein reported that the rediscovery of the letter «made the Pope very happy, and made him smile.»

What is most striking is that little Joseph does not ask for toys or sweets. He asks for the Schott, one of the first books in German with a breviary and missal (with its text in Latin also). At that time, two editions were available in Germany: one for children and one for adults. Little Joseph, through that book, begins to love the liturgy that sets the rhythm of his family’s life. Little Ratzinger then asks for a vestment to celebrate Mass. No surprise, because the Ratzinger brothers used to pretend to be “parish priest”, and their mother made vestments for that. «We pretended to celebrate Mass – Georg Ratzinger, the Pope’s brother, told the American monthly Inside the Vatican – and we had vestments made for us by our mother’s seamstress. In turns, one of us was the priest and the other the altar boy». Finally, little Ratzinger asks for a «Jesus’ Heart» i.e. an image of the Sacred Heart, which his family was very devoted to.

Just an anecdote. But perhaps one should keep in mind this anecdote when Benedict XVI delivers his speeches. Whenever he defends family, there is something about memories of his own family. That it was a happy family, which life rhythm was set by liturgy, and where all rejoiced with one another.  It was a family in which it was sensible to be, because it represented the best for a child’s growth. When he became theologian, Joseph Ratzinger expanded his reflection on the meaning of family, based on the Holy Family of Nazareth. Through the example of the Holy Family, he wanted to explain why a «traditional» family was needed. This defense of family started on strictly theological basis. But also on a rational basis.

An idea the Pope has put front and center in his Christmas address to the Roman Curia. In that address, the Pope generally looks back at the life of the Church in the year that is coming to an end. As usual, the Pope flew high. No hint of Vatileaks, nor of internal problems: in the end, these problems really do not amount to much, just petty miseries of the human condition, when compared to the Church’s challenges and agenda. So, Benedict XVI put on the table three issues that marked the Church’s life and that will be on the agenda for the next ten years: family, dialogue, and new evangelization.

The Papal address starting point is the family.  The Pope approaches the topic through the arguments which the Chief Rabbi of France Gilles Bernheim made in defense of the traditional family. Bernheim also sent to the French President François Hollande a 25 pages brief, to explain all the reasons why he and his community are against «marriages for all».  The Pope states: before, the family was in crisis due to a misconception of freedom; today, the very idea of man is in crisis.

This crisis has a specific name: gender.  It is at the same time a neutral and lethal name, as is much of the new «vocabulary» promoted in United Nations documents and continuously denounced by Holy See officials.

Gender points to the human being that calls his own nature into question. «He – the Pope says, drawing on German idealism philosophy – is now only spirit and will.  The manipulation of nature, which we deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man’s fundamental choice where he himself is concerned.  Nowadays, there is only the abstract human being, who chooses for himself what his nature is to be». If there is no more duality, if human being loses his identity, there is no more family.  «When the freedom to be creative – Benedict XVI notes, with Bernehim – becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God, as the image of God at the core of his being.  The defence of the family is about man himself.  And it becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also disappears.  Whoever defends God is defending man.»

Defending man is the Church’s mission, and integral humanism is the Holy See’s International agenda. This agenda is the basis of the dialogue with states, with societies and with religions. The Church’s– the Pope notes – makes memory part of herself, because «human culture, of which she is a guarantee, has developed from the encounter between divine revelation and human existence.  The Church represents the memory of what it means to be human in the face of a civilization of forgetfulness, which knows only itself and its own criteria.  Yet just as an individual without memory has lost his identity, so too a human race without memory would lose its identity».  And Benedict XVI concludes: «In its dialogue with the state and with society, the Church does not, of course, have ready answers for individual questions.  Along with other forces in society, she will wrestle for the answers that best correspond to the truth of the human condition.»

For what concerns interreligious dialogue, the Pope states that the dialogue does not take place on theological grounds, but on practical and cultural grounds, in order not to lose one’s own identity. How to engage in dialogue? «Dialogue – Benedict XVI says – does not aim at conversion, but at better mutual understanding: that is correct.  But all the same, the search for knowledge and understanding always has to involve drawing closer to the truth. »

And truth is Christ himself, and «both sides in this piece-by-piece approach to truth are therefore on the path that leads forward and towards greater commonality, brought about by the oneness of the truth.» This is also one of the main themes of the first Benedict XVI’s message for the World Day of Peace, meaningfully titled In truth, peace. «Being inwardly held by the hand of Christ – the Pontiff says – makes us free and keeps us safe: free – because if we are held by him, we can enter openly and fearlessly into any dialogue;  safe – because he does not let go of us, unless we cut ourselves off from him.  At one with him, we stand in the light of truth.»

What constitutes the good news, then? Benedict XVI points us to the Gospel passage where Andrew and Simon follow Jesus. Both of them are seekers, and that is why «stimulated by the proclamation, their seeking becomes concrete.» The Pope then explains the proclamation is «effective in situations where man is listening in readiness for God to draw near, where man is inwardly searching and thus on the way towards the Lord.»  The Pope’s wish for Christmas, which is also the agenda for next decades, is to know Jesus better, because as one «walks with Jesus, he is led to the place where Jesus lives, to the community of the Church, which is his body.  That means entering into the journeying community of catechumens, a community of both learning and living, in which our eyes are opened as we walk.»

In the end, it is the same agenda of little Ratzinger. He asked for a Schott as a Christmas gift, a book of liturgies, to lock himself in step with Jesus, starting a long walk in life that brought him to the Papacy.