A fourth book of interviews with Pope Emeritus Benedict was initially never intended for publication, the writer Peter Seewald disclosed in an exclusive interview in the German weekly Christ & Welt on 9 September.
“The conversations were foreseen as material for the biography of Joseph Ratzinger on which I am working,” Seewald explained. “They were not meant to appear separately in book form. My interview partner [Benedict] was against it and I did not intend to publish them while he was alive.”
As he was transcribing the tapes, however, Seewald realised that the conversations did not merely contain further anecdotes or more information about the Pope Emeritus’ life, but that what he had in his hands was a historic document in its own right.
“It was pure Ratzinger – especially on why he resigned,” said Seewald. It became quite clear to him that it was essential to publish what the Pope Emeritus had to say about his resignation in order to put an end to all the “legends, conspiracy theories, rumours that Benedict had not resigned of his own free will and that he had even been blackmailed”.
He had therefore decided to try to persuade Benedict to allow the conversations to be published. He had presented his arguments in writing in letter form and Benedict had eventually agreed.
The congenial relationship between Francis and Benedict was “quite definitely genuine and not just a show”, Seewald underlined. It must be remembered that there had never been a situation like the present one in the Vatican with an active Pope and a Pope who had resigned, he said.
Everything Francis and Benedict did was a “premiere” for which the corresponding form had to be found. “The two are [in a way] creating the papacy anew for this century,” Seewald said and recalled that in future there might well be three popes, one in office and two emeritus popes, as Francis had made it clear that he, too, could imagine retiring.
The fourth interview book (pictured), entitled “Letzte Gespräche” (“Last Conversations”) was launched in Munich by Cardinal Gerhard Müller and Archbishop Georg Gänswein on 12 September.
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