Benedict says God told him to step down as pope
(Globalpost/GlobalPost)During one of the few private visits he has granted since his retirement, Benedict, when asked by one of those present why he took that decision, he answered "God told me to," according to Zenit.
It wasn't "any kind of apparition or any phenomenon like that," but rather it was "a mystical experience" in which Our Lord caused to grow in his heart "an absolute desire to remain alone with him, secluded in prayer," the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said.
Benedict also commented during the meeting that the more he observes the "charisma" of his successor, Pope Francis, the more he realizes that his decision to resign the papacy was "the will of God."
During these meetings, Zenit said, the pope emeritus "does not make comments or reveal any secrets, he does not make statements that could seem to have the importance of words spoken by the other pope, but maintains the discretion that has always characterized him."
He said that at most, "he observes with satisfaction the marvels that the Holy Spirit is doing with his successor."
Copyright EFE, 2013.
The cult followers of Marie minus Divine Mercy will undoubtedly say Benedict was forced to say God told him. What do you expect? He is in the hands of his enemies.Their minds are so darkened with suspicion and conspiracy theories that they give knee jerk responses like, "Oh, where did you get that? On the Internet? Can't believe anything you read on the Internet, dearie." Can one respond that their primary source of information these days is also from the Internet: the Warning Second Coming website. No. These apostles of M-DM behave like drive-by shooters. Hit and run.
ReplyDeletePocketSketch,
DeleteHere is their problem with presenting that argument. The M-DMers consider Pope Benedict XVI to be the "true" pope. If they claim he was forced to tell the "God told me" story, then by default they are saying Pope Benedict lied when he said he was stepping down for health reasons. That being said, I have seen M-DMers claim he was forced, and when presented with the fact that they are then calling PBXVI a liar, they ignore the question and change the subject.
sorry folks, but I just read this and ask that it be posted....
ReplyDeleteVatican City, Aug 27, 2013 / 08:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The retired pontiff's personal secretary said that the recent and widely circulated news story claiming that Benedict XVI stepped down after having a “mystical experience” is false.
“It was invented from the alpha to the omega,”Archbishop Georg Gänswein said Aug. 25.
“There is nothing true in this article,” he added in an interview with journalist Alessandra Buzzetti on Italian television channel Tg5.
Rome-based Catholic news outlet “Zenit” had reported last week that Benedict XVI resigned after having a mystical experience in which God told him to do so.
The agency said that the former Pope told a visitor to Mater Ecclesiae, the monastery in the Vatican where he currently resides, that God “did not speak to him in a vision but in a mystical experience.”
Tg5 interviewed the Archbishop Gänswein on Aug. 25 in the town of Castel Gandolfo, where the papal summer residence is located.
Thank you! I saw this yesterday. I did think it an odd thing for any pope to say that, "God told me to do it." I guess the reporter took Pope Benedict's prayerful discernment about retiring and simplified it to this level. In spite of this, The article furthers the truth that Pope Benedict was not "viciously osted" from the Vatican as MDM said, and confirms that he prayerfully and thoughtfully made a decision to retire.
DeleteBy the way zenit quotes an unnamed visitor to the pope for the story.
ReplyDelete