Full text of Pope emeritus Benedict's letter released

By Vatican News

A statement from the Secretariat for Communication, released by the Press Office of the Holy See, takes note of polemical statements in the press suggesting censorship of a letter by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI. The controversy arose over the digital alteration of a photograph distributed as part of a press kit on the occasion of presentation of a book series on “The Theology of Pope Francis.”

The statement says that at the book launch, only those parts of the “confidential” letter were read which were “considered appropriate and relevant” to the initiative; and in particular, what the Pope emeritus affirmed about the philosophical and theological formation of the current Pope, and the “interior unity” between the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Francis. Comments by the Pope emeritus regarding certain contributors to the series were left aside. The decision to omit those remarks, according to the Press Office statement, was motivated by discretion, and “not by any intent” to censor the former pontiff.

“In order to dispel any doubts,” the statement continues, “it has been decided to publish the letter in its entirety.”

The letter of Pope emeritus Benedict, addressed to Monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò, the Prefect of the Secretariat for Communication, can be seen in the photograph above.