Gianluigi Nuzzi 
Ratzinger was afraid 
The secret documents, the money and the scandals that overwhelmed the Pope

The news of Benedict XVI stepping down has come as a shock.Perhaps the world will never know the real reasons behind a choice that will forever remain indelibly written in the history of the Church.The Pope’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, has decided to reveal the thorny issues within the Roman Curia and handed me dozens of documents that I have now published along with my research and investigations in this book.“Paolo, are you afraid?” – I asked him one day – “Yes, I am afraid – he answered – I am afraid that the Pope doesn’t have the strength to overcome this adversity, to cast the moneychangers from the temple”Shortly thereafter, the mayor of Milan, one of the most important cities of Italy, also met the Pope at a ceremony. Very concerned, he too revealed the detail of that encounter to me: “I am struck by that look, Benedict XVI is afraid, …”. “Afraid of what?..” I asked him.“I was very ill at ease, here was Ratzinger talking to me like a frightened man. You know, we had set out some chairs in the sacristy of the Duomo, one for him, one for Cardinal Scola and another one for me. Shortly before the ceremony the Vatican informed us that another Cardinal would also be present..”The book that will change the history of the Church.