Ratzinger was torn between different versions of himself

This from the current issue of The Tablet. 

The idea that Ratzinger was always torn between different versions of himself surely is a stand out:

The dome of St Peter’s basilica was covered with mist as the first mourners entered the square this morning, among them a Bavarian marching band from Pope Benedict’s homeland noisily making their way into the piazza. Pope Francis arrived in a wheelchair shortly before 9.30 am to preside at the funeral of his predecessor. 

Christopher Lamb watched as he was vested at the altar while 125 cardinals processed into the square. In his homily, read while sitting before the altar, Francis said that Benedict had “spread and testified to” the Gospel for his “entire life”, in the face of “challenges and resistance”, a nod perhaps to the turbulence that often surrounded his eight-year papacy and his 24 years as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.