That there are now ‘two popes’ – Francis and Benedict – alive at the same time is a peculiarity of history; it was as long ago as 1415 that a pope retired from the position rather than died while incumbent, making Joseph Ratzinger’s withdrawal last year a radical break in Catholic practice.
This almost unique situation has given rise to a number of speculations about the way in which Pope Francis behaves around ex-Pope Benedict, and how the latter spends his days. Paul Elie writes about the subject for The Atlantic, detailing Benedict’s daily routine and the way in which his papacy differed to that of the more popular Francis.
Breakfast follows in the refectory: bread, jam, fruit, and juice, the women bustling reverently around him. John Paul had a Clinton-style appetite for groups of people with himself at the center, and during his pontificate, his priest-secretary arranged for guests as a matter of course. “Benedict cut that right off,” a Vatican insider told me. “He was taking his meals more or less alone even when he was pope—when he was the pope.”
He goes to his study, reads the morning papers, writes a letter or two. He is retired from authorship—too old, Gänswein has said, to write a whole book. Some people say that his retirement began when he was elected pope. As early as 1985, while serving as prefect, he told an interviewer that “if Providence will some day free me of my obligations,” he would devote himself to a scholarly book about original sin. Twice he submitted his resignation; twice John Paul refused it.
Read Elie’s full piece at The Atlantic.
