VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Former Pope Benedict rebuked conservative Roman Catholics who did not accept his decision to resign as “fanatics”, telling them that there is only one Pope and that it is Francis.
Benedict XVI, now 93, in 2013 became the first pope in more than 600 years to step down instead of governing for life, saying he no longer had the strength to govern the 1.3 billion-member Church.
Some hardline conservatives dissatisfied with the more liberal Pope Francis often expressed doubts about whether Benedict voluntarily resigned, although he has said several times in the past eight years that he has.
“It was a difficult decision. But it was a totally conscious choice and I think I did well (resign), ”he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Monday.
“Some of my most fanatical friends are still upset, they didn’t accept my choice.”
Benedict XVI, who lives in a house in the Vatican gardens, said those who refuse to accept his resignation harbor “conspiracy theories” that he was forced to resign because of scandals like the leak of some of his documents by his butler .
“They don’t want to believe it was a conscious choice,” he said. “My conscience is clear.”
Apparently addressing those who still consider him the real pope and are hostile to Francis, Benedict said: “There is only one pope”.
The interviewer said that Benedict XVI emphasized the point by hitting the arm of the chair.
The presence in the Vatican of a pope and a former pontiff with the title of “pope emeritus”, also wearing white, irritated some Catholics.
Leading Church figures have called for new rules stipulating that popes who resign take up the lower post of cardinal, do not wear white and make no pronouncements about the doctrine.
Reporting by Philip Pullella; Kevin Liffey Edition