Insomnia was apparently the key reason behind Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation. in February 2013. His biographer Peter Seewald confirmed a corresponding report by the magazine “Focus” to the Catholic News Agency (KNA) on Friday.
Accordingly, Benedict XVI. on October 28, 2022, nine weeks before his death, in his last letter to Seewald, he revealed the “central motive” for his resignation: “the insomnia that has accompanied me uninterruptedly since World Youth Day in Cologne.” World Youth Day in Cologne took place in August held in 2005.
“Benedict XVI. During his lifetime, he didn’t want to make a fuss about the circumstances of his resignation, which was justified by his exhaustion,” Seewald told the KNA.
Unfortunately, even after his death, speculation continued about possible other reasons for the step. “Rumours of blackmail and any kind of pressure that was put on him do not go silent,” said the Munich publicist. It is also further suspected that the “Vatileaks” affair was the real reason.
I hope that the conspiracy theories and crazy speculations will finally be done away with.
Pope biographer Peter Seewald
He therefore felt obliged to “publish the crucial detail entrusted to me from the medical history of the German Pope,” said Seewald.
“I hope that this will finally put an end to the conspiracy theories and crazy speculations.” The resignation was due to health reasons, “exactly as he expressed it in his resignation statement”.
As early as 2010, the then Pope in his interview book “Licht der Welt” unequivocally announced to him, Seewald, “that he would make use of the option to resign as soon as his strength no longer permitted him to exercise the office of Peter. Unfortunately, hardly anyone took any notice of it.”
Biography appears under the title “Benedikts Legacy”
Seewald himself has published a new break in Hoffmann and Campe under the title “Benedict’s Legacy”, which is appearing these days. The author explained that the letter of October 28, 2022 could no longer be included “due to time and production reasons”.
In the letter, Benedict XVI writes that the “strong remedies” that his personal physician at the time prescribed had worked initially and guaranteed his “availability” as pope. However, the drugs soon “reached their limits” and “less and less could ensure” its availability.
After all, a serious incident occurred on his trip to Mexico and Cuba in March 2012. According to Benedikt in the letter, the morning after the first night he grabbed his handkerchief as usual.
This was “totally soaked with blood”. “I must have bumped into something in the bathroom and fell.” A surgeon knew how to treat the matter “thank God” in such a way that the injuries were not visible.
After this accident, his new personal physician pushed for a reduction in sleeping pills and insisted that he, Benedikt, should only be allowed to appear in public on future trips abroad in the mornings. According to Benedikt, it was clear to him that these medically justified restrictions “could only apply for a short time”.
Because the next major trip abroad, World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, was to take place in July 2013 and he knew that he would no longer be able to “manage” this date, he planned his resignation so early that after Rio a “new Pope” would be able to travel, said Benedict.
Benedict XVI stressed in the letter that after “sober and thoughtful consideration” he would again come to the decision to resign. At that time he was no longer able to perform the office appropriately.
Benedict XVI resigned as Pope on February 28, 2013. His successor Francis, elected on March 13, 2013, flew to Rio for World Youth Day. Benedict XVI died at the age of 95 on New Year’s Eve 2022. (KNA)
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