The Vatican marked one year since the death of Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday, and on the occasion, one of the former sovereign pontiff’s closest aides said the former pope would never have authorized a statement like the recent one, allowing Catholic priests to bless them. -sexual couples, Reuters and Agerpres report.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the doctrinal leader of the Church during Benedict’s pontificate, and Archbishop Georg Genswein, who was Benedict’s personal secretary, both Germans by nationality, were the most prominent guests at the event, which marked the anniversary of the pope’s death and was organized by the American Catholic and conservative television network EWTN.

“It wouldn’t have happened (during Benedict’s pontificate) because it’s so ambiguous,” Mueller said on the sidelines of the event when asked by Reuters about the historic Dec. 18 decision.

Although the December statement stated that such blessings cannot be similar to blessings in the sacrament of marriage between a man and a woman and cannot be part of rituals and liturgies, some supporters of greater inclusion of LGBT people in the church saw in the decision a possible precursor to the conclusion of same-sex marriages in the Church.

“Gay marriages do not exist. It does not exist, it cannot exist despite the ideologies we have (today),” said Mueller, who was removed by Pope Francis as head of the Vatican’s doctrine department after Benedict resigned in 2013.

Pope Francis was quick to mention the memory during a Sunday blessing of the crowd in St. Peter’s Square and said that Benedict “served the Church with love and wisdom” and that “we feel great affection, gratitude and admiration for him.”

Francis asked those present to applaud Benedict, the first pope to renounce the pontificate in 700 years.

Mueller said that while his personal relationship with Francis is “very good,” he is not shy about publicly contradicting him on doctrinal matters because “we are not in the Soviet Union where only one leader can speak.”

Muller said that “the best thing we can do for the Pope is to always be close to the truth and the faith of the Church, and not to be sycophants.”

Earlier in St. Peter’s Cathedral, Genswein, Benedict’s secretary, celebrated a memorial service in honor of the former pope. Genswein twice interrupted his sermon due to anxiety.

Benedict’s shock resignation divided the Church, with many saying he should not have given up the pontificate.

The 10 years he spent in the Vatican as “pope emeritus” deepened the rift between conservatives and progressives, with some traditionalists even refusing to recognize Francis as a leader.

“I think a lot of the controversies will be forgotten,” Genswein said on the sidelines of the televised event. “The essence remains, and history will judge the essence of his pontificate.”

Genswein, who Francis sent back to Germany after Benedict’s death, said that when Benedict decided to step down, he was convinced he had at most a year to live.

“I pray that he becomes a saint. I wish it was holy. I am convinced that he will be a saint,” he said.