Cardinal and former Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone has revealed that he tried to dissuade Benedict XVI from resigning from the pontificate and delay his decision, when he confided to him his intention to resign in the spring of 2012. He finally announced his resignation on February 11, 2013.
«Only once did I painfully experience a disagreement, when in the spring of 2012 he confided to me his decision, matured for a long time in prayer, to resign from the papacy. In vain I tried to dissuade him,» Bertone points out in a writing published on the official Vatican portal ‘Vatican News’.
As he confesses, after learning of the then pontiff’s decision, he lived a time «full of worry and anguish» and tried to «delay the announcement as long as possible».
In the message, Bertone reviews his long friendship with Joseph Ratzinger, whom he met at the time of the Second Vatican Council, «when he was spoken of as a young German theologian, one of the sharpest minds of the pre-conciliar theological scene».
Subsequently, he began to frequent him more often after his appointment as consultor to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which Ratzinger, then cardinal, was prefect; and the friendship arose after Bertone’s appointment as secretary, in 1995.
«The simplicity and familiarity that emerged between us blossomed into a true friendship that remained faithful and loyal over time, especially in the difficult times that followed,» he assures.
Bertone regrets that some «have stereotypically judged him as a severe, inflexible man, a panzerkardinal.» Against this view, he defends that the pope emeritus had a «tenderness in understanding the other» even «in the confrontations and conversations that took place on important doctrinal issues.»
«Sometimes, re-reading the minutes of the correspondence between the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and bishops or theologians, if he found some harsh expression, he would correct it and recommend ‘softening’ the expressions so as not to offend the interlocutors,» he stresses.
MERCY WITH PAOLO GRABRIELE AFTER VATILEAKS It also highlights that «he showed the mercy of his heart towards his valet Paolo Gabriele, after the sad and tangled affair known as ‘Vatileaks’.»
«Trial and punishment in that case were necessary, but thinking that he might have been a weakness, though guilty, he was concerned for his family and his work and recommended that he seek housing and employment outside the Vatican,» Bertone notes.
The former secretary of state also recalls the weekly meetings he held with the then pope to address the issues on the agenda and assures that, when cases were «particularly burdensome» such as «the resurgence of the submerged problem of pederasty in the clergy,» he paid full attention to capture exactly his thoughts and directives, which he then had to communicate with absolute fidelity to those responsible and have them implemented.
Later, when he was already pope emeritus, Bertone indicates that he was able to visit him at his residence in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery and affirms that these were always «intense moments» in which there was no lack, to the extent of his possibilities, of exchanging information and reflections «that constantly revealed his broad vision of the Church, whose path he accompanied with affection.»
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
