What are we to make of Pope Benedict's letter defending Pope Francis as a theologian? Some people say that the letter doesn't sound like Benedict at all and must be fake or he was forced to write it. The fact that the Vatican chose to crudely blur the last two lines of the letter raises alarms. Hilary White and Steven Skojec on the other hand, say that Benedict was never what we thought he was and yes, he either wrote the letter or at least was content to sign what the ghost writer gave him and he is probably just fine with Francis.
Both Hilary and Steve got gruff to the point of stinging insult with anyone who disagreed with them on Twitter. Who's right? What the Hell is going on? I don't know. All I can say is that Benedict is very old and practically helpless. He's said to be partially blind and prone to falling and he's suffered a dramatic and obvious physical decline. Perhaps if one decent person could go to his chambers with a cell phone, press record and implore, "Speak Papa! Why did you abandon us?," we might learn something but that's not going to happen. Even if someone was bold enough to do it I doubt that the cell phone would make it beyond the Vatican walls or even as far as an elevator.I am sure of one thing: if you are expecting Benedict to come to the rescue then you will die a disappointed man or woman. He's too frail now and if it's true, as some whisper that he abdicated as part of a separate peace to protect himself and/or his brother then he's definitely out of the fight. Lord have mercy.