An unprecedented letter from Benedict XVI, written in 2014 to clarify the doubts arising around the validity of his resignation to the pontificate, has seen the light for the first time in the book Reality and utopia in the Church (Reality and utopia in the church).
The volume, edited by The books of the compass (The books of the compass), includes in its appendix the full letter, dated August 21, 2014.
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The letter was sent by Pope Emeritus in response to Mons. Nicola Bux, Italian theologian, former consulor of the congregation for the doctrine of faith and author of the book.
In it, Benedict XVI clearly responds to those who, since their resignation in February 2013, have promoted theories that question the legitimacy of their decision and feed rumors about an alleged “progressive schism” within the Church.
“The claim that with my resignation I only renounced the exercise of the position and not also to the functioncontradicts a clear dogmatic and canonical teaching, ”writes Ratzinger in the letter, according to the newspaper The new daily compass.
“If some journalists talk about a ‘latent schism’, they do not deserve any attention,” says Pope Emeritus in his response to Bux.
Ratzinger insists that his resignation is completely valid and compares it to the resignation of any diocesan bishop, also defending his right to continue writing as theologian.
The book also includes the original letter sent to Ratzinger by Mons. Bux who, according to the Italian newspaper, would have maintained the correspondence in private to avoid becoming an instrument to generate more controversies.
It should be remembered that, in February 2014, a year after presenting his resignation to the pontificate, Benedict XVI also directed a letter to Andrea Tornielli, Vaticanist and current editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication.
In it, the then Emeritus Pope confirmed that there was no “hard minor” about the validity of his resignation to the Petrino Ministry and that the only condition of this validity was “full freedom of decision.” “Speculations about the disability of the resignation are simply absurd,” he said.
Almudena Martínez-Bordiú
Graduated in journalism and advertising from the CEU San Pablo University of Madrid. Specialized in religious information in Spain since 2015. It has been a senior correspondent for ACI Press and Ewtn News at the Vatican for two years and is currently a correspondent for Europe based on Spain.