PANDORA’S?

Pope Reveals He Inherited Big White Box of Corruption and Abuse Scandals

The pontiff and his predecessor had been photographed with a mysterious white box.

When Pope Francis was elected pope, he inherited a box full of abuse and corruption scandals, according to his new autobiography. In 2013, Pope Benedict XVI became the first pontiff in almost 600 years to resign, giving Francis the rare opportunity to sit down with his predecessor during the papal transition. “He gave me a large white box,” Francis wrote of Benedict in his autobiography Spera (Hope), out Tuesday. “‘Everything is in here,’ he told me. ‘Documents relating to the most difficult and painful situations. Cases of abuse, corruption, dark dealings, wrongdoings.’” Benedict then told him the box contained documents about the actions he had taken and the people he had “removed,” and now it was Francis’ turn. The book doesn’t detail which scandals were in the box or how Benedict dealt with them—or what Francis did to continue the cleanup efforts. Benedict’s eight-year papacy was marred by a number of sex-abuse scandals, including allegations that Benedict allowed priests to climbs the ranks despite accusations of abuse. For years, rumors persisted about a box of scandals, after Francis and Benedict, who died in 2022, were photographed sitting across from a white box at the pope’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. Spera marks the first time Pope Francis has addressed it on the record.