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ROME, January 15, 2020 (LifeSiteNews<\/a>) \u2013 A Vatican-based journalist has alleged that Pope Francis was \u201cfurious\u201d over Pope Benedict\u2019s contribution to a book co-authored with Cardinal Robert Sarah defending priestly celibacy, demanding that Benedict retract his name from the work.<\/p>\n Antonio Socci, an Italian Catholic journalist best known for his coverage of Church news, has reported on social media that Pope Francis was infuriated by the texts in\u00a0Des Profondeurs de nos coeurs<\/em>\u00a0(From the Depths of Our Hearts<\/em>) supporting priestly celibacy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe day before yesterday … the end of the world broke out in the Vatican because Bergoglio was furious,\u201d Socci\u00a0wrote this<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cIn fact, that very authoritative pronouncement of Benedict XVI prevents him from taking a pickaxe to ecclesiastical celibacy as he had planned to do in the next post-synodal exhortation,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cThus, [Pope Francis] personally called Archbishop G\u00e4nswein, the secretary of Benedict XVI as well as the prefect of Bergoglio\u2019s pontifical household, and \u2015 furious \u2015 ordered him to remove the name of Benedict XVI from the cover of the book \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Socci said that \u201creliable sources within the Vatican\u201d had given him the \u201cbehind the scenes\u201d story leading up to the Pope Emeritus\u2019 decision to distance himself from the book he co-authored with Cardinal Sarah. The\u00a0prolific author<\/a>\u00a0of such works as\u00a0The Secret of Benedict XVI: Is He Still the Pope?\u00a0<\/em><\/a>\u00a0stated that Pope Francis wanted his predecessor to renounce his authorship entirely \u2015 which would have been a falsehood.<\/p>\n \u201cBergoglio demanded a full and total retraction,\u201d Socci wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cFor this reason the first filtered news spoke of sources \u2018close to Benedict XVI\u2019 who said that Benedict had neither co-authored a book with Sarah nor approved the cover, that is, his signature on the book,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cThis, however, was not true, and Benedict XVI could not bring himself to bear false witness implying that Cardinal Sarah had involved him without his consent. Nor had Pope Benedict the least intention of retracting what he had written in defence of celibacy in that volume.\u201d<\/p>\n Socci noted that at the outbreak of the scandal\u00a0Cardinal Sarah had published his correspondence<\/a>\u00a0with the Pope Emeritus that demonstrated that the book was the work of them both and that the book had Benedict\u2019s consent. The Pope Emeritus\u2019 instructions to publishers to downplay his authorship in future editions of the work, however, was allegedly to protect Archbishop G\u00e4nswein.<\/p>\n \u201c….Benedict also found it necessary to shelter his secretary from South American \u2018vendettas\u2019, given that he had received a peremptory order from Bergoglio,\u201d Socci wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThus this compromise solution was adopted: on the cover of future editions of the book the author will be Cardinal Sarah \u2018with the contribution of Benedict XVI,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cThe text in the book, in any case, will remain the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Socci said that this \u201cmessy compromise\u201d means that Pope Francis\u2019s \u201ccourt\u201d are able to tell the media that the Pope Emeritus has retracted his signature from the book, \u201ceven though this is not true\u201d and his name still appears on the agreed-upon parts of the work.<\/p>\n \u201cA most ugly story of clerical power that in the end points to a gagging of Benedict XVI,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, there remains the underlying question: if Bergoglio, in his exhortation bashes celibacy, with the ordination of \u2018viri probati\u2019, which is in fact in direct conflict with the doctrine of the Church recently reaffirmed by Pope Benedict XVI,\u201d Socci stated.<\/p>\n \u201cThus he assumes responsibility for a most serious breach with heavy consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n The American publisher of the English translation of the work, Ignatius Press, has affirmed the co-authorship of the work. The company\u2019s founder and editor-in-chief, a former student of Joseph Ratzinger,\u00a0told LifeSiteNews<\/a>\u00a0on Monday that claims Benedict had not co-authored the book were \u201cfake news.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just got a call from Cardinal Sarah. He confirms that Pope Benedict is co-author with him,\u201d said Fr. Joseph Fessio.<\/p>\n Ignatius press\u00a0confirmed<\/a>\u00a0Tuesday that it will continue to list the two prelates as co-authors.<\/p>\n According to an official letter written to the bishops of the world,\u00a0but leaked to LifeSiteNews<\/a>, Pope Francis wants to publish a final document on the Amazon Synod by early February. One of the most controversial topics of the synod, the possibility of ordaining married aboriginal men in the Amazon to the priesthood, is expected to be addressed in this post-synodal exhortation.<\/p>\n