The Battle of the Two Popes
One of the things I find most perplexing in the Church today is the mystery of the Pope Emeritus. I look back on the Papacy of Benedict XVI as an incredibly happy time for the Church. I hung off every word. Looked forward to every encyclical, everything made sense, everything fitted with Catholicism, there was comfort, unity, learning, growth, confidence. Now that seems all ashes, though I have heard it said that Benedict XVI is and was a Pope who will be read and pondered for a hundred years and Francis I will be immediately forgotten. Benedict XVI famously prayed that he "would not flee from the wolves" at his inauguration Mass , then, it seemed he fled. And now we well and truly have wolves. And as if to add insult to injury, there have been punctuated Benedictine interventions offering support for Pope Francis, even though many have questioned their veracity . In fact, the Vatican has clear form in fabricating the Pope Emeritus' opinion of Pope Francis, ...