Pope Francis exposed the political “maneuvers” used to influence votes during the last two papal elections in an interview published on Tuesday, The Independent reported.
The revelations are contained in the book Pope Francis, Successor: My Memories of Pope Benedict XVI, in which the current pope settles some scores with Benedict’s long-time aide.
The book was written as a conversation with Javier Martínez-Brocal, a correspondent for the Spanish daily newspaper ABC. It came at a time when the 87-year-old pontiff’s failing health raised questions about how long he would remain pope and whether he would follow in the footsteps of Benedict who retired.
In the book, Francis revealed previously confidential details about the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict and the 2013 vote that elected him. Francis stated that he was allowed to deviate from the cardinals’ oath of secrecy because he was Pope.
In 2005, according to Francis, he was “used” by cardinals who wanted to block the election of Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. They succeeded in influencing 40 of 115 votes. The cardinals wanted to nominate a compromise candidate after Ratzinger was removed from running. Francis declared an end to the manoeuvres by saying he did not agree to become Pope, after which Ratzinger was elected.
He was the only one who could be pope in that moment.
In 2013, after Benedict’s resignation, the political manoeuvring also took place. Francis, then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, stated that he realised it only after the cardinals united behind him, hinting that he was gaining support. He stated that he understood he could become pope when Spain’s Cardinal Santos Abril y Castelló came running after him on the afternoon of 13 March, just before what was supposed to be the final vote.
Francis denied rumours in an interview that he was planning a reform of conclave rules ahead of future papal elections. Although he denied any such reform, he stated that he was reviewing the protocol for papal funerals. The pontiff announced that Benedict’s would be “the last wake in which the body of a pope is exposed in an open coffin, on a bier.”
The pontiff stated that he wanted popes to be “buried like any son of the church,” in a dignified, but not excessive manner.
Francis revealed details of one famous incident in 2020 when Cardinal Robert Sarah, along with Benedict, wrote a book in which he reiterated the need for priesthood chastity. The book was published just as Francis was considering calls to relax celibacy requirements and allow married priests to address the Amazon clergy shortage. That caused a ruckus as Benedict’s involvement in the book increased the likelihood that the former Pope would try to influence the current Pope’s decision-making.
Francis commented that he felt compelled to suspend Gaenswein after the uproar.
“I was obliged to ask Benedict’s secretary to take a voluntary leave, but keeping the title of prefect of the papal household and the salary.”
Gaenswein later published his candid memoir Nothing But the Truth a few days after Benedict’s death on 31 December, 2022, in which Francis was harshly criticised. Francis, for his part, insisted that Benedict always deferred to him, defended and supported him, and was not behind any conservative attacks or manoeuvres aimed at undermining his authority.
It pained me that they used Benedict. The book was published on the day of his burial, and I felt it was a lack of nobility and humanity.
