ROME (AP) 鈥 The longtime secretary to Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged Sunday that his tell-all memoir, published in the days after Benedict鈥檚 death, had been criticized for casting Pope Francis in an unfavorable light, but insisted that some of the polemics were more about anti-Benedict prejudice than anything else.
In some of his first public comments since , Archbishop Georg Gaenswein said he remained loyal to Francis and that he was still waiting for the pontiff to give him a new job.
Gaenswein鈥檚 future has been the subject of much speculation following Benedict鈥檚 death and the publication of 鈥淣othing But the Truth: My Life Beside Pope Benedict XVI.鈥 In the memoir, Gaenswein charted his nearly 30 years working with Benedict, but also and detailed some of the bad blood that accrued during the decade in which Benedict lived as a retired pope alongside Francis.
Published during the emotional period around Benedict鈥檚 Jan. 5 funeral, the book came to encapsulate the conservative criticism that has been directed at Francis and his more progressive bent by people nostalgic for Benedict鈥檚 doctrinaire papacy.
Speaking to Sky TG24 Sunday after celebrating Mass at a Rome-area church, Gaenswein acknowledged his book had raised eyebrows both for its content and the timing of its publication.
鈥淭here are and will be criticisms,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd I have to live with the criticisms.鈥
He said that he welcomed well-founded criticism.
鈥淚f the criticisms aren鈥檛 well-founded, but are criticisms from (anti-Benedict) prejudice or other unfounded motives, I have to accept them, but I cannot take them seriously. True criticism I accept and I learn from,鈥 he said.
He spoke to Sky at Santa Maria Consolatrice, which was the titular church of Benedict when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. After the Mass, a plaque honoring the late pope was unveiled.
In an on Jan. 24, Francis responded to Gaenswein's critiques, and those of other conservatives, by saying they were natural after 10 years and proved that the prelates felt free to speak.
