Ex-pope Benedict says he wasn't much good at governing the Vatican
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Rome - Former Pope Benedict XVI says he struggled with "practical government" at the Vatican, according to advance extracts from a book due out on Friday which were published by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
"A weak point of mine is perhaps my lack of resolve in governing and taking decisions," Benedict says in "Letzte Gespraeche," which hits the stands in Germany and Italy this week and is due to come out in English in November with the title "Last Testament."
"Practical government is not my strong point and that is a weakness. But I can't see myself as a failure," Benedict says in the book, a lengthy interview with his German-born biographer Peter Seewald.
In 2013, Benedict was the first pope to retire in almost 600 years, citing the strains of old age.
At the time, it was said that the decision was influenced by his struggle to get on top of Vatican scandals.
In his memoir, Benedict mentions the scandals about paedophile priests, the furore about Holocaust-denying bishop Richard Williamson and the VatiLeaks revelations about Vatican intrigues as "difficult moments" of his papacy.
He says a secret inquiry on VatiLeaks allegations confirmed the existence of a Vatican gay lobby made up of "four, maybe five people."
He adds: "We dismantled it. Will there be more? I don't know. But the Vatican is certainly not teeming with such cases."
But he insists that his overall record as pope is positive, denies suggestions that he resigned under duress or due to blackmail, and says that after being initially "unsure" about his successor Francis, he is "really happy" with him.
- DPA
