ROME: In September 2012, as the Pope's plane was returning from Beirut, I was ushered into the first class aisle and seated next to Pope Benedict XVI. The Pope, who was 85 at the time, looked weary.
He had recently returned from a delicate two-day trip to Lebanon, where the Syrian-Lebanese civil war was raging. This was my 92nd such visit; My first was with Pope John Paul II, the papal world travel guru, and spent the next eight years traveling with Benedict. Benedict's visit to Beirut was to be my last as I intended to retire, so the Vatican decided that I should accompany him.
I was unaware that this would also be his last visit at that time. He will step down as pope in a few months, marking the first resignation in 600 years. Benedict was clearly tired during that flight, but maintained his usual friendly demeanor. He spoke softly in his German-accented Italian, which often made Italians laugh, "Congratulations on your retirement."
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He was surprised when I revealed that I had been covering the Vatican for more than 30 years. He sounded emotional when he said that my retirement was "much deserved."
I always wonder if our meeting has asked him to consider any plans of his own that he hasn't made public yet. Later he announced his retirement on February 28, which is what I decided to do. I've always found Benedict to be kind because he was always ready to shake hands and make an appropriate comment.
Benedict, as portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in the Netflix drama "The Two Popes", is portrayed as unwavering in his conviction that the survival of the Roman Catholic Church can only be ensured by a return to its founding principles can go.
But Benedict was a revolutionary in his own right. No matter the pressure from the outside world, he was someone who stood his ground and would not give up. However, he was unaware of the storms he would create.
When the inevitable questioning about his time spent in Nazi Germany came up, he could point out that in the many interviews he had given before his election as pope, he had covered that ground: as a teenager in the Hitler Youth their forced enrollment as; his recruitment into the army near the end of the war; and his gallantry and eventual surrender to the Americans.
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He stayed away from controversies for being more vocal about his past than others. This undoubtedly paved the way for his papal visits to Israel, the Auschwitz Nazi death camp, and synagogues in Rome and New York.
During a stop at New York's Park East Synagogue, it was fascinating to listen to his conversation in German with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a rabbi who was born in Vienna. They spoke like two old friends.
In one of the most significant crises of his pontificate, a speech intended to encourage religious tolerance provoked outrage and even some violence in the Islamic community.
Benedict cited the 14th-century Byzantine emperor, who called Islam "evil and inhumane, like his (Prophet Muhammad's) command to spread by the sword that he preached" in a speech he gave in Regensburg, Germany in 2006. University, where he once held the position of professor of theology.
In the Muslim world, the comments were swiftly condemned, but Benedict was surprised that what he considered a scholarly discussion could provoke such bitterness.
Although he was "deeply sorry" that some people were offended, he insisted that religion should never be used as a justification for violence. Years later, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, who served as his former spokesman, claimed that Benedict understood exactly what he said. A French reporter questioned Benedict about condoms and HIV prevention during a news conference on a flight to Cameroon in 2009, when Benedict was making his first trip to Africa. On the contrary, he claimed, "It (condom use) makes the problem worse."
The response, which went against the opinion of medical professionals battling the disease on the continent and many of its own priests, puzzled journalists and other travelers. A year later, he changed his position slightly, saying that using condoms to prevent the spread of HIV could be the first step toward more ethical behavior.
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It was the kind of explanation that revealed the lingering ambiguity and internal strife within the Vatican that characterized Benedict's papacy. In the years following his resignation, Benedict became more vulnerable and lived in secret in a monastery within the walls of Vatican City. He devoted most of his time to prayer.
But his Argentine successor didn't disregard his contributions to the church, which included paving the way for Pope Francis. Francis publicly thanked the German on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood in 2021, when Benedict would be 94.