In a previously scheduled speech to the Vatican office that handles sex abuse cases, Pope Francis did not refer to the findings of a long-awaited report into how the Munich archdiocese handled abuse cases.

A law firm’s report on how abuse cases were handled in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising faualted retired Pope Benedict XVI, with lawyers accusing him of “misconduct” in four cases during his tenure as Munich archbishop.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has provided extensive answers to lawyers’ questions concerning sexual abuse cases in the Munich archdiocese, a major German newspaper reported Friday.

“It seemed to me, right from the beginning, that Francis’ style of pontificate was like a punch in the stomach from the Holy Spirit to wake us up,” Cardinal Angelo Scola says in this exclusive interview.

Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI likely received the third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in October, according to official Vatican reports.

Benedict’s longing for heaven, recently hinted at in a letter of condolence, is not to be interpreted as meaning that the former pope “no longer has any desire to live.”