On the eve of the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ election, retired Pope Benedict XVI defended the continuity of the church’s teaching under his successor and dismissed those who criticize the Pope’s theological foundations.

In a letter sent to Msgr. Dario Vigano, prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for Communication, Pope Benedict applauded the publication of a new book series titled, “The Theology of Pope Francis.”

“It contradicts the foolish prejudice of those who see Pope Francis as someone who lacks a particular theological and philosophical formation, while I would have been considered solely a theorist of theology with little understanding of the concrete lives of today’s Christian,” the retired pontiff wrote.

Msgr. Vigano read the letter during a presentation of the 11-volume series March 12.

Before reading the letter, Msgr. Vigano said he sent a message to Pope Francis and Pope Benedict regarding the publication of the book series.

He also asked if Pope Benedict would be “willing to write a page or a page and a half of dense theology in his clear and punctual style that would have liked to read this evening.”

Instead, the retired pontiff “wrote a beautiful, personal letter that I will read to you,” Msgr. Vigano said.

Pope Benedict thanked Msgr Vigano for having given him a copy of “The Theology of Pope Francis” book series, which was authored by several notable theologians.

“These small volumes reasonably demonstrate that Pope Francis is a man with profound philosophical and theological formation and are helpful to see the interior continuity between the two pontificates, even with all the differences in style and temperament,” he wrote.

Pope Benedict has made no secret of his affection for and admiration of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis “is very popular in Asia, a continent where two-thirds of humanity lives. Among the Catholics… I would say he has a very, very high rating, over 90% accept-ance. Among other Christians, he has also a high rating; they are very appreciative of him, sometimes I’ve even heard them say, ‘He is our Pope too.’ Among the non-Christians, even some may know about him, some may not have heard of him or may not know enough, but he comes out as a good strong, moral influence; his position on climate change has made an impression on people; and he’s known to be a person who reaches out to those on the peripheries and that’s made an impression too.” On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the election of Pope Francis, that is the assessment of Cardinal Oswald Gracias, 73, the first church leader ever to head the Catholic Church in Asia and in India at the same time.

In this exclusive interview he also talked about the possibility of the Pope visiting India and China, as well as the work of the Council of Cardinal advisers.

“I see the Pope can really touch the heart of Asia, a continent where the people are basically spiritual even though they are now also becoming somewhat secularized.”

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi told us he would very much like for the Pope to come. The difficulty is to find an appropriate time, partly because many other distinguished people are coming and because we are having so many elections. The Holy Father would not want to get involved in local politics. So, we are trying to find a time that is neutral for him to come, without people instrumentalizing his visit. I am hopeful that in 2018 we will be able to arrange this visit, maybe between September and November.”

“I am almost confident that he’s coming to India. When you speak of China, I see a glimmer of light, of this possibility. It’s not ruled out; his desire to go is strong.” “We’re coming to the end of one project—the reform of the Roman Curia. I hope we can finish it this year.”

As the Vatican appears to be on the brink of an historic deal with an officially atheistic and Communist regime in China hostile to religious faith, the leader of a Church in Ukraine that has suffered more under Communist control than any other religious body on earth says he now embraces a philosophy of “dialogue at all costs.”

“We need to pursue dialogue at all costs,” said Major Arch-bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine in a Feb. 27.

“That can seem a bit crude, but really, what alternative is there to dialogue? Only confronta-tion, a war of sorts,” Shevchuk said.

“Today’s world doesn’t know how to dialogue, it only knows how to write on Facebook. Dialo-gue is mystery, it’s a sacrament of encounter. Dialogue is some-thing to which I’ve been comple-tely converted,” he said.

At the same time, Shevchuk said he deeply respects the per-spective of clandestine and under-ground believers who’ve paid a price in blood for their fidelity to the faith.

“I have to say that in these situations, the clandestine church has a hard time understanding,” he said. “Its suffering flesh isn’t capable of running behind these initiatives. That’s not only under-standable, but I’d say it merits respect.”

“I don’t believe the Holy See is indifferent to the suffering of the clandestine church [in China], but it also can’t negate the possi-bility of pursuing whatever dialo-gue it can with the authorities and the Patriotic Church.

I have to say that in these situations, the clandestine church has a hard time understanding. Its suffering flesh isn’t capable of running behind these initiatives. That’s not only understandable, but I’d say it merits respect.

There is too much violence in social media and aggression “is shared by many Catholics present in social networks”: this is the alarm launched by Cardinal Sergio da Rocha, Archbishop of Brasilia and president of the Brazilian National Episcopal Conference (CNBB). “It is a grave sin to use the name of God or any religion to practise or justify violence,” said the Cardinal commenting on the message of the Campaign for Fraternity (CF) which this year proposes the slogan “You are all brethren.” As Fides learns, the Cardinal emphasizes that many initiatives can be developed to achieve the objectives of the Campaign and that every baptized person can give his contribution in order “to overcome violence and build fraternity and peace in the environments in which he lives.” But we must deplore the growing violence “shared by many Catholics in social net-works,” he remarked.

“It is urgent to say no to violence on social media” he said, especially addressing young people.”

After 89 years on Earth, Sister Catherine Rose Holzman looked into a camera on March 11 and addressed what would turn out to be some of her last words to Katy Perry, the pop star. “Katy Perry, please stop,” the nun said on Fox 11 in Los Angeles. Please stop trying to buy the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary’s convent, even though the nuns had gone to court to block the sale.

“It’s not doing anyone any good,” Holzman said, then walked into a courtroom, collapsed and died.

The sisters have owned the sprawling Roman-villa style con-vent for 40 years, the Associated Press reported. Only a small handful of nuns were still alive when they vacated the complex several years ago, as the diocese looked for someone to buy it.