Unpublished 2013 letter reveals future Pope Leo XIV’s admiration for Benedict XVI’s courage and fight against Church abuse.
Newsroom (16/04/2026 Gaudium Press ) On the ninety-ninth anniversary of the birth of Pope Benedict XVI, a deeply personal and long-unpublished letter reemerges — written in February 2013 by Robert Prevost, the then-superior of the Augustinian Order and now reigning Pope Leo XIV. The message, delivered the day after Benedict’s resignation, is a rare glimpse into the quiet bonds and shared convictions that linked two theologians across generations of faith and reform.
Prevost’s letter, sent on February 22, 2013, exudes reverence and gratitude. It praises Benedict for his “gratitude, loyalty, admiration, and support,” and his courage in relinquishing the papacy — a historic act that stunned the world and reshaped the Church’s modern identity. At its core, however, the letter celebrates Benedict’s moral clarity and his decisive response to one of the most painful crises in Church history: the abuse scandals.
Prevost thanked Benedict for his “constant guidance on the tragic and painful issue of sexual abuse,” calling his determination to confront wrongdoing “another very important contribution” of his pontificate. He commended the Pope’s humility in seeking forgiveness from victims, saying that his example not only healed wounds within the Church but also demonstrated accountability to a watching world. In tone and conviction, the letter foreshadows Prevost’s own papal vision — one centered on transparency, pastoral care, and the courage to reform.
For Cardinal Kurt Koch, who presided over the commemorative Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, this rediscovered correspondence underscores how deeply Benedict’s legacy remains woven into the moral fabric of contemporary Catholicism. Despite facing relentless criticism — including slanderous claims that he had shielded abusive clergy — Benedict was, in Prevost’s words, a Pope “determined to address abuses in the Church.” Those who knew him best recall his pain at renewed accusations near the end of his life, a painful contrast to the truth of his record.
Monsignor Georg Gänswein, Benedict’s longtime secretary, described Prevost’s letter as one written “from the heart,” a bridge between two Augustinian minds united by theology and humility. “They speak the same language,” Gänswein told Il Giornale, recalling Benedict’s admiration for Prevost as early as 2007, when they met at the tomb of St. Augustine in Pavia. There, in the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro, shared laughter over a jocular remark — that Benedict should have been called “Augustine I” — sealed a friendship based on shared vocation rather than rank.
Saint Augustine’s spirit threads through both their journeys. Benedict, reluctant to become Pope, found kinship with the saint who sought only to be a theologian but was called to serve as bishop. Prevost, an Augustinian by heart and now by papal name, carries forward that same synthesis of contemplation and leadership. As Father Francesco Maria Giuliani, a longtime friend of Prevost, recalled, “For us Augustinians, Benedict was a sort of first Augustinian Pope in history.”
Now, under Leo XIV, that Augustinian legacy lives on — one that treasures both intellect and mercy, doctrine and moral integrity. And through a letter once private and forgotten, the world sees more clearly that Benedict XVI’s courage and humility did not end with his resignation; they quietly inspired the next generation of papal reform.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Il Giornale
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