Pope Francis has had to lead the world’s Catholics in the knowledge that his predecessor, with radically different ideas, was living just a few hundred yards away
HE DEATH OF a pope has far-reaching consequences, even when the pontiff in question has not led the Roman Catholic church for ten years. Such was the case with, who died on December 31st. The firmly conservative pope stepped down in 2013, but remained an important figure in the struggle over the church’s future—to the occasional consternation of Pope Francis, his more liberal successor.
The tally of Benedict’s post-papacy sermons, letters, messages to conferences, interviews with writers and other texts comes to around 30. In some, he implicitly contradicted his successor. More overtly, in 2020 he co-authored a book defendingjust as Francis seemed to be edging towards easing the rule that bans priests of the Latin rite from marrying. Only after controversy did Benedict have his name removed from the cover.
And Benedict’s abdication led to the election of the most liberal pontiff for more than half a century. His supporters saw it as an act of courage, a realistic acceptance of the fact that popes may live well beyond the age when they can do much more than smile benevolently. But some critics saw his act as a cowardly refusal to carry the heavy cross of the papacy to the end in the way his predecessor, Saint John Paul II, had done.
It could also bring forward the next great contest between the rival wings of the world’s biggest Christian denomination: the election of the next pope. Although Benedict lifted the taboo on papal resignation, it would have been impossible for his successor to follow his example while Benedict remained alive: if to have two living popes was regarded as unfortunate, three would surely be unthinkable.
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