Benedict denies being ousted from throne

VATICAN CITY-A year after his resignation shook the world, the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has strongly denied an Italian report that he was pressured to quit St Peter's Throne.

 The small Vatican state may have housed the current and former pope for quite some time, but last weekend's Consistory provided an image of two popes in white reuniting on St Peter’s Square for the first time, raising speculation in La Stampa of Turin that the German ex pontiff may be hankering for his old job. While this unprecedented arrangement stirs the imagination of many, some go as far as to question the voluntary nature – and hence validity - of Benedict XVI’s fateful gesture.

 “These speculations are simply absurd”, wrote Joseph Ratzinger in his quick reply to La Stampa’s Andrea Tornielli’s inquisitive letter, sent to the former pontiff last week. “There is absolutely no doubt as to the validity of my resignation”, stated the Pope Emeritus firmly, quoting “complete freedom” of his decision as the only condition for its validity. As frequently emphasised in his statements given in the aftermath of the unexpected announcement made at his final General Audience on February 27, 2013, Ratzinger insisted he was fully aware of the gravity and novelty of his step, taken, however, with the good of the Church in mind and “with a profound serenity of spirit.”

 The then Pope Benedict XVI was not, therefore, forced to resign, and there was no conspiracy intended to force him to step down from his position as Bishop of Rome. Acutely conscious of his incapability to handle the duties required by his office, he renounced his power as the leader of the Catholic Church, but did not “abandon his cross”, seeing his role as that of a quiet supporter of the new pontiff through prayer.

 Ratzinger’s wish to stay in the Vatican, “hidden from the world” in what he referred to as “the enclosure of Saint Peter,” as well as his insistence on keeping the name Benedict XVI and wearing white, normally reserved for the reigning pope, instigated speculation that the predecessor of the Argentinian pontiff might have envisaged for himself the role of a “shadow Pope,” influencing decisions taken by the Holy See and remaining a potentially rival power base.

 Other Vatican sources have acknowledged, however, that one reason why Benedict opted to stay in the tiny city state rather than retire to his native Germany was to preclude possible attempts to extradite him for an alleged role in covering up the paedophile scandals afflicting the Church while he was the theologian and doctrinal watchdog of Polish Pope John Paul II.

 Ratzinger said that the reasons behind his decision were “purely practical”, white robes being the only clothes available to him at the moment of resignation, and emphasised the fact that he wears it “in a visibly different way to how the Pope wears it”, referring to the theories speculating about its hidden meaning as “completely unfounded.”

 Benedict's humble behaviour at the Consistory of Cardinals last Saturday illustrated his position very clearly: having refused the special seat prepared for him, the Pope Emeritus chose to sit alongside the cardinal bishops.

 “I'm grateful to be bound by a great identity of views and a heartfelt friendship with Pope Francis”, wrote Benedict in a letter to his old friend and rival the radical Swiss theologian Hans Küng, recently quoted by its recipient. “Today, I see supporting his pontificate with prayer as my last and final job."

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