Benedict had support from loyalists who believed he had been forced into retirement - but his pontificate will be remembered by others for the 'great corruption and dysfunction' which surrounded it.
Benedict succeeded Pope John Paul II, who had been head of the church since 1978, after his election in 2005.had forced the then 85-year-old to"recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to me".
Amongst other duties the body deals with what the church considers to be the most serious crimes among its ranks, including clergy accused of sex abuse. But his eight-year papacy was marked by controversy as Benedict became known for being a weak administrator who admitted a"lack of resolve in governing and decision taking".Benedict also angered Jews by rehabilitating a Holocaust denier and prompted international dismay by saying the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS only worsened the problem.Paolo Gabriele, Benedict's butler, leaked secret documents that alleged corruption and feuding within the Vatican.
But in 2022, an independent report in his native Germany alleged he had failed to take action in four cases of sexual abuse when he was Archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982. "In reality I am more of a professor, a person who reflects and meditates on spiritual questions," Benedict said after his resignation.He was galvanising for conservatives who opposed Pope Francis - some even failed to accept that he had resigned the papacy willingly and continued to consider him"my pope".
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