January 14, 2020

Anna Murray 

On January14th, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the longtime secretary of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, published a statement that Benedict never meant to have his name on the book reaffirming priestly celibacy is a gift for the Church, titled “From the Depths of Our Hearts”, which was considered co-written with Cardinal Robert Sarah. 

However, Ignatius Press, the book’s English publisher, has declined the requirement ofremoving the retired Pope Benedict XVI’s name as the co-author. Advance excerpts of the book were issued in France on January 15th and will be published in the United States next month.

The issue began with the present Pope Francis’s weighing whether to consent married men to be ordained priests in the Amazon region to deal with the priest shortage problem in October, when the synod gathered Catholic bishops all over the world to discuss the future of the Church in the Amazon.The retired pontiff’ sopposite opinion with Pope Francis has become the topic these days.

Photo:Webshot.