Archbishop Georg Gänswein has offered a fresh glimpse into the delicate relationship between Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, insisting that the retired pope never publicly criticised his successor even when particular decisions, including restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass, caused him personal sorrow.

In an interview with La Repubblica, Archbishop Gänswein said Benedict “never commented” on Traditionis Custodes, though he repeated his own earlier judgment that reading the text had caused Benedict pain. In a 2023 interview with Die Tagespost, Archbishop Gänswein said the restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass had “hit him pretty hard” and that he believed they had “broke Pope Benedict’s heart”.

The former papal secretary, now apostolic nuncio to Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, returned in particular to the unprecedented situation created by Benedict’s resignation in 2013. There was only one reigning Pope, he said, even if Benedict retained the title “Pope Emeritus”, a designation that Archbishop Gänswein confirmed Benedict had chosen for himself. He added that Benedict deliberately simplified his dress and manner of life in order to underline that distinction and avoid confusion about authority in the Church.

Archbishop Gänswein also rejected the long-running theory that Benedict’s resignation had been driven by scandal or external pressure. Neither the VatiLeaks affair nor rumours about Vatican factions explained the decision, he said; rather, it came after deep reflection, prayer and an examination of conscience. On this telling, Benedict’s renunciation was not an act of collapse under pressure, but a deliberate spiritual judgment made before God.

His recollection of the transition to Pope Francis was, however, marked less by drama than by personal detail. Archbishop Gänswein described seeing the white smoke, learning that Jorge Mario Bergoglio had been elected and then helping to arrange the first meeting between the two men at Castel Gandolfo on March 23, 2013. That first encounter, he said, was marked by mutual courtesy, with each trying to defer to the other in the chapel. Benedict also handed Pope Francis a box of documents relating to the VatiLeaks investigation, together with written notes explaining their contents.

On the personal rapport between the two pontiffs, Archbishop Gänswein pushed back against the more dramatic readings that flourished during Benedict’s retirement. Reports of a permanent organised opposition to Pope Francis clustered around the Pope Emeritus were, he suggested, exaggerated. There were comments and reservations about some papal decisions, he acknowledged, but that was not the same as rebellion. He also recalled small gestures of mutual regard, including visits and gifts, and described the atmosphere between the two men as one of courtesy and attention.

Perhaps the most moving message concerned the aftermath of Benedict’s death. Archbishop Gänswein said Pope Francis had asked him to telephone directly when the moment came. After receiving the call, the Pope arrived at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, blessed his predecessor, sat beside him in silence for several minutes and then prayed with those gathered there. This recollection is likely to complicate the colder accounts sometimes given of the final relationship between the two men.

What emerges most clearly from Archbishop Gänswein's own words is a relationship shaped by restraint. Benedict appears as a retired pope determined not to interfere, even when troubled; Pope Francis as a successor whose personal gestures could coexist with real differences in style and judgment.