Benedict is “at peace” and has no regrets after being the first pope to resign in 600 years last February, an archbishop close to former pope says.
Georg Ganswein, the archbishop, works for the former pope and is also the head of Pope Francis’s household.
He told Reuters that Benedict has no regrets about leaving office and also holds no resentment against his critics despite it being painful to read about some of the criticism, and that history will offer a better judgement on the former pope.
“I am certain, indeed convinced, that history will offer a judgment that will be different than what one often read in the last years of his pontificate,” Ganswein said.
“He is well but certainly he is a person who carries the weight of his years. So, he is a man who is physically old but his spirit is very vivacious and very clear.”
He said that Benedict now resides in a former convent in the Vatican Gardens, “hidden from the world” in prayer and isolation.
Benedict maintains a good relationship with Pope Francis, including visiting each others residents several times.
Friends Read Free