The interviewer also brought up the fact that Pope Francis had appointed a number of women as secretaries or undersecretaries of Vatican offices, but that he had not named a woman to head a Vatican dicastery, despite the fact that his reform of the Roman Curia states that a layperson is capable of doing so.
Why did Pope Francis write a resignation letter in advance?
Pope Francis stated that he offered Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone a letter of resignation while the cardinal served as Vatican secretary of state, a position he vacated in October 2013, in an interview that was released on Dec. 18, the day after he turned 86.
“I signed it and said, ‘If I should become impaired for medical reasons or whatever, here is my renunciation. Here you have it,’”
Given the letter’s exposure, the pope quipped, someone will now approach Cardinal Bertone and demand, “Give me that piece of paper! ”
However, he said that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who replaced him as secretary of state, received it from Cardinal Bertone, and he was convinced of this.
Pope Francis resignation letter pictures: Has he released them?
No, in a July interview with Reuters, Francis shot down rumors that his resignation was imminent and reiterated his frequently stated position that he might step down at some point if his health prevented him from leading the Church. This was practically unheard of before Benedict XVI, now 95, resigned in 2013. In six centuries, it was the first papal resignation.
Francis has traveled abroad three times since July, to Canada, Kazakhstan, and Bahrain. From January 31 to February 5, he will go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.
