A biographer of Pope Benedict has criticised Cardinal-elect Victor Fernández, the newly-appointed head of the Dicastry for the Congregation of Faith.
Peter Seewald said that Fernández’s description of his duties as concerning “harmonious growth” that will “preserve Christian teaching more effectively than any control mechanism” was “not only slippery, but downright grotesque in view of the dramatic crisis of the Church in the West”.
In an interview with the Austrian news outlet kathnet.de, Seewald noted Benedict XVI’s former role as head of the Congregation of Faith.
“It must give one pause for thought that Pope Francis at the same time declares that in the past the dicastery used immoral methods. How could this not be seen as a reference to former prefect of the faith Joseph Ratzinger, as well as an attempt to legitimise the change of course?”
Acknowledging that Francis had called Benedict “a great pope”, Seewald nevertheless accused the him of speaking coldly of his predecessor.
“Today, however, one must ask oneself whether Bergoglio’s confessions were just lip service, or even smokescreens. We all remember the warm words of Ratzinger at the Requiem for John Paul II, words that touched the heart, that spoke of Christian love, of respect.
“But no one remembers Bergoglio’s words at the Requiem for Benedict XVI. They were as cold as the whole ceremony, which couldn't be short enough to avoid paying an inch too much tribute to his predecessor.”
At the Requiem Mass in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said that as we strive to follow the Lord as an ecclesial community, we too “want to follow in His steps and to commend our brother [Benedict] into the hands of the Father… may those merciful hands find his lamp alight with the oil of the Gospel that he spread and testified to for his entire life.”
Seewald has written several books on Pope Benedict, including Salt of the Earth: An Exclusive Interview on the State of the Church at the End of the Millennium (1996) and Benedict XVI: A Life (Volume 1: 2020).
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