Former pope Benedict XVI has many good things to say about the current pontiff Pope Francis as Pope Francis celebrates his 5th year as Pope this year, stressing that there is an 'inner continuity' between his reign and that of Pope Francis and that Pope Francis is a 'man of profound philosophical and theological formation.'
The comment from the former pope written in a letter was published by Mgr Dario Edoardo Vigano, prefect of the Secretariat for Communications as a means to contradict rumors and misunderstanding stressing that the two pontiffs did not get along.
According to the Catholic Herald, the letter from the former pope included his thanks for receiving an advance copy of the book series recently released by the Vatican discussing the theology of Pope Francis. The series is edited by Don Roberto Repole, the president of the Italian Theological Association.
Benedict XVI said that the series 'contradicts the foolish prejudice of those who see Pope Francis as someone who lacks a particular theological and philosophical formation, while I would have been solely a theorist of theology with little understanding of the concrete lives of today's Christian.'
He further added: 'The small volumes show rightly that Pope Francis is a man of profound philosophical and theological formation. And therefore help to see the inner continuity between the two pontificates, even with all the differences in style and temperament.'
