Il papa e l’emerito. Sulla convivenza di Bergoglio e Ratzinger

From 13 March 2013 to 31 December 2022, Pope Francis served as Bishop of Rome while his predecessor was still alive and living in the Vatican. Both Bergoglio and Ratzinger were clear about their respective roles from the outset, but Pope Francis wanted the former pope not to withdraw into silence and even encouraged him to continue offering advice. While the pastoral direction of the new pontificate was unfolding, in part diverging from that of previous decades, Bergoglio’s opponents tried on several occasions to involve Ratzinger in opposition to the new pope, as if Benedict XVI were the authentic guardian of a Tradition that Bergoglio was undermining. Ratzinger rejected these attempts – partly facilitated by his own private secretary – and eventually chose to withdraw into silence to avoid further instrumentalisation. Despite the difficulties that arose during this papal cohabitation, this experience nonetheless set a precedent, the value and limits of which can only be fully appreciated with the passage of time.