Dated August 21, 2014, just over a year after he left the pontificate, the missive was addressed to the priest Nicola Bux and until now had remained unpublished. The letter is now distributed as an appendix to the book Reality and Utopia in the Church (Reality and Utopia in the Church), by Monsignor Nicola Bux and Vito Palmiotti, with the aim of clarifying historical polemics on the legitimacy of Pope Francis' pontificate and closing debates on who was the "real Pope" in that period.
In the text, Benedict XVI responds to those who doubted his full dedication by renouncing not only the ministry, but also the munus petrinothat is, to the role and authority of the Pope as the Successor of Peter. He points out that to hold otherwise "is contrary to clear dogmatic-canonical doctrine" and criticizes the idea of a "rampant schism" as merely speculative and without foundation.
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