Benedict XVI resignation: CDF's Msgr. John Kennedy recalls
(Vatican Radio) It was exactly one year ago that Pope Benedict XVI made history with
the announcement of his resignation from the papacy. Less than three weeks later,
on 28 February, he officially stepped down from office, retiring temporarily to the
palace in Castel Gandolfo. He currently resides in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery located
within the Vatican Walls. For more than twenty years leading up to his election
to the papacy 2005, Cardinal Josef Ratzinger served as the prefect of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith. One of the officials working for the Congregation at
this time was Monsignor John Kennedy. One year on since his resignation, the CDF
official still recalls the moment of Pope Benedict’s resignation. “Part of me could
understand why,” Mons Kennedy told Vatican Radio, “having known him since 1998, knowing
that he would always want the Petrine ministry to be the most effective, to be the
fullest, to be occupied by a person who could give complete energy to it.” All the
same, he said, there has been “a great sadness” among the officials, who he often
referred to as his family. His stepping down from the papacy was a “gesture of
humility”, the official went on, one that “has opened up for us the enormous possibilities
that have been seen in Pope Francis.” Mons Kennedy concluded by expressing his
hope that people “would possibly see Pope Francis and Pope Benedict as really two
sides of the one coin. And, as they listen and see and are marveling at the beautiful
gestures of Pope Francis, that they might be inspired go back and read maybe some
of the wonderful works that Pope Benedict has produced, so that they can actually
see both as being complementary.” Listen to Ann Schneible’s interview with
Mons John Kennedy: