Two Living Popes Faced a Rare Situation. Their Hidden Rivalry Could Shape the Next Papal Era

Two Living Popes Faced a Rare Situation. Their Hidden Rivalry Could Shape the Next Papal Era

Pope Francis and Pope Benedict were two rare living popes. Their markedly different ideologies created a divide within the Roman Catholic Church.

For years, the Vatican ambassadors kept both photos hanging. The relationship was fair precisely to combat 'curial poisons'

With "Tradititionis custodes" Francis distanced himself from Benedict XVI's understanding of the liturgy. In "Bi-Ritualism" he saw the danger of division.

Joseph Ratzinger (1927-2022), Pope Benedict XVI, perhaps the greatest intellectual at the head of the Church in centuries, perceived the reality much better than his many critics imagined. That is why he warned of the "danger of rationalist trivialization, superfluous talk, pastoral infantileism. One feels chills in view of a post-conciliar liturgy often without brightness and that it provokes boredom with its tendency towards banalism and its l…

The Brazilian filmmaker who directed the film “The Two Popes”, with British actors Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce in the roles of Pope Benedict XVI and the then Cardinal of Buenos Aires, says he has become a fan of Pope Francis

Vatican City, 21 April 2025 — Among the many challenges that Francis faced in his episcopal service to the Church of Rome, the relationship with his predecessor was of great significance. A challenge whose burden he shared with Benedict XVI, and that everyone, especially in the Church, had begun to observe with curiosity, eager to understand in reality how the unprecedented interface between two heavyweights of catholicity would unfold.