August 6, 2010. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had hoped to leave the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to become Cardinal archivist and librarian at the Vatican Secret Archives  ….



That's according to Cardinal Raffaele Farina in an interview he gave to the magazine "Inside the Vatican”. He's the current head of the Vatican Secret Archives. In the interview, he recalled that  in 1997 Cardinal Ratzinger had asked Pope John Paul II about this possibility when he had reached the retirement age of 70 and as a way continue work on study and research.  

Joseph Ratzinger, the future Benedict XVI, discussed the subject with Pope John Paul II and proposed continuing his work at the Vatican Archives, but at a less frenetic pace.  

John Paul II asked instead that he continue his work at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. And eight years later, Cardinal Ratzinger, went on to be become Pope Benedict XVI.

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