The Holy Father in the latest volume of interviews made with him XVI. He also spoke in detail about his relationship with Benedek.

The details were published by the Italian press on Tuesday.

Pope Francis declared, XVI. Benedict's funeral was the last at which the head of the church was cremated in an open coffin.

I want a more modest funeral for myself"

he said.

Pope Francis spoke to Spanish journalist Javier Martínez-Brocal, whose book of interviews with the head of the church will be published in Spanish on Wednesday by Pope Francis. Titled The Successor. The Pope has previously spoken several times about leaving precise arrangements for his funeral, and unlike his predecessors, he wants to be laid to rest not in St. Peter's Basilica, but in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, far from the Vatican.

Pope Francis said in the interview volume that XVI. Last year's funeral of Pope Benedict was completely organized by the former personal secretary of the late pope, Georg Gänswein. Georg Gänswein published his book "Nothing but the Truth" at the same time as the funeral of the German Pope, in which he also criticized Pope Francis.

Pope Francis now responded that Georg Gänswein's timing lacked "nobility and humanity."

As for the retired pope who used to live in seclusion in the Vatican, XVI. Regarding his relationship with Benedict, Pope Francis said that

due to his views on same-sex partnerships, some cardinals "wanted to sue" him, accusing him of heresy, but "Ratzinger came to his defense".

Pope Francis also recalled the 2005 conclave that elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope: in the first rounds of voting, the current pope proved to be the second most widely supported candidate behind Ratzinger. I received forty votes out of one hundred and fifteen, with the votes given to me they wanted to "block" Ratzinger's election as pope, so he would not have been able to obtain the two-thirds necessary for the election of the pope - recalled Pope Francis.

They didn't want a foreign pope"

- he emphasized, adding that a group of cardinals wanted to target a third candidate with the tactics.

"Ratzinger was the only one who could be pope at that time, as he ensured a transition from II. after John Paul"

said Pope Francis. He noted that his predecessor faced great opposition in the Vatican.

MTI

Featured image: Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general interrogation at Vatican VI. in Pál Hall on January 31, 2024. MTI/EPA/ANSA/Maurizio Brambatti