Two days after the French newspaper Le figaro have published excerpts from a book signed by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) and Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah – in which they both uphold the rule of compulsory celibacy for the priests of the Catholic Church – the Spanish newspaper ABC reports that the German Emeritus Pope may, after all, have been victim of manipulation and have had no influence on the book to be published next week.
In the text known Monday, Sarah and Ratzinger allegedly argued that celibacy of priests is “indispensable” and underline that “It is urgent and necessary for all, bishops, priests and lay people to rediscover a look of faith in the Church and in priestly celibacy that protects its mystery.“.
The text is particularly sensitive to the Catholic Church because of the moment it is published. In October last year, Catholic leaders gathered at the Amazon Synod concluded that priestly ordination of married men should be one of the solutions to tackle the shortage of Catholic priests in that region of the world – setting a precedent that could lead to profound changes in the law of celibacy imposed by the Catholic Church a thousand years ago. The final document of the meeting was submitted to Pope Francis, who is expected to make a decision in the first half of this year..
The publication by Benedict of a text with a position on the subject was considered by many to be a form of interference in the decisions of his successor and also a breach of the commitment made by the German when he resigned the leadership of the Catholic Church in 2013: Keep silent and obey the new Pope. The prospect of the publication of a text signed by Ratzinger on the subject of celibacy was so controversial that the Vatican itself hastened to comment on the topic, underlining that the emeritus Pope maintains obedience to Pope Francis.
Now, in a play signed by the Vatican correspondent citing sources close to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the spanish newspaper ABC states that the German had no role in writing the book, presented as having been done with four hands.
According to the newspaper, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah met with Benedict XVI several months ago, at a time when the emeritus Pope was working on a text on the priesthood. Robert Sarah – who is the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, that is, the person responsible for the liturgical affairs of the Catholic Church – who was writing a book on the same subject at the time, asked Benedict XVI to see the text, which the German agreed to.
Robert Sarah, known as one of the most influential conservative voices within the Catholic Church’s summit, will later have produced the entire book now presented as being also signed by Benedict XVI.
On Monday, just as the book was being published, Cardinal Robert Sarah was giving an interview to the Le Figaro, where you spoke of aawesome crisis”In the Catholic Church and stressed that the book was a“ cry of love for the Church, the Pope, the priests and all Christians ”.
In fact, however, history shows how Benedict XVI was even responsible for opening one of the few exceptions that exist today in the Latin Church. Although he has always defended the importance of celibacy – which, in fact, is not part of the very nature of the Catholic priesthood and is therefore possible to be reversed – Benedict XVI approved in 2009 the Anglicanorum Coetibus, a document that allows married Anglican priests to convert to the Catholic Church the possibility of maintaining their families.
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