Pope Benedict XVI was an iron fist in a white glove
The first pope to resign voluntarily died on December 31st, aged 95
Pattering in the forceful, tumultuous wake of John Paul II, Benedict XVI had a hard act to follow. In 2005 there were few expectations. Or rather, there were expectations of the wrong kind: that the man who from 1981 had been prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (cdf) would rule the Roman Catholic church like an elderly headmaster, waspish and intolerant, with the fires of a new Inquisition gleaming in those pale blue eyes.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Joy and severity”
From the January 7th 2023 edition
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