Benedict seeks quiet retirement
2013-02-12 17:30
Regensburg - Pope Benedict XVI is planning to stay out of
the public eye following his retirement at the end of the month and will
probably not even write any more, his brother said on Tuesday after talking
with the pontiff.
Speaking to reporters in his home in the southern German
city of Regensburg, 89-year-old Georg Ratzinger said his brother also has no
plans to move back to his German homeland but would instead stay in the
Vatican.
"You don't transplant an old tree," Ratzinger
said.
The two are very close, however, and Ratzinger said he's
already planning to visit his brother later in the year.
The 85-year-old Benedict shocked the world on Monday by
announcing that he planned to step down from the papacy at the end of the
month.
For Ratzinger, however, the decision was no surprise.
"He has been thinking about it for several
months," he said. "He concluded that his powers are falling victim to
age."
He talked with the pope by telephone on Monday evening
after the announcement and said his brother was now hoping to lead a quiet life
in the Vatican.
A prolific writer during his papacy, Ratzinger said that
was also something his brother would now likely end.
"I don't think he will write anymore,"
Ratzinger said.
Rudolf Voderholzer, the bishop of Regensburg who is also
in charge of the pope's theological institute that publishes his work, said
even if Benedict does write, not more would be published during his lifetime.
"Anything he published could be conceived as
interference in the work of the next pope," he said.
As for his successor, Ratzinger said only that his
brother "feels that a younger person is needed to deal with the problems
of the times”.
- AP
