Pope Francis has named his predecessor Benedict XVI as a transitional pope, saying he was the only possible candidate for the papal mandate after the changes under former Vatican leader John Paul II, DPA reported, citing Agerpres.

German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI, was the only candidate to become pontiff when a new pope was elected in 2005, Francis, the current spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, said in an excerpt from a book to be published. on Wednesday in Spanish.

“After the revolution of John Paul II, who was a dynamic sovereign pontiff, very active, who showed initiative, who traveled … we needed a Pope who would maintain a healthy balance, a transitional Pope,” Pope Francis said, referring to the appointment Pope Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Since then, during papal elections, some cardinals have tried to block Ratzinger’s election, Pope Francis said in a book written by a Vatican correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC.

At the time, the Cardinals also discussed his name, but “if they picked someone like me, someone who creates a lot of chaos, I wouldn’t be able to achieve anything. It would have been impossible at the time,” said Pope Francis, quoted in a book titled “El Sucesor” (“The Successor”).

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger in Bavaria in 1927, was pope from 2005 until his surprise resignation in 2013. He died in 2022 at the age of 95.

He was succeeded by former Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who became pope in 2013 and has been called Francis since then.