VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — In what is the first official Vatican acknowledgment of an active investigation into the legitimacy of Pope Benedict XVI’s 2013 resignation, the Office of the Promoter of Justice of the Vatican City State has formally confirmed that it is actively carrying out an investigation into a petition to the court alleging the nullity of the resignation. The Office is the body responsible for conducting criminal investigations for the Tribunal of the Vatican City State (commonly referred to by journalist Andrea Cionci as the “Vatican Criminal Court”).
Cionci is a veteran Roman journalist with 20 years’ experience at Italy’s major daily newspapers and the author of the bestselling book The Ratzinger Code (25,000 copies sold and translated into five languages). He has conducted one of the most detailed examinations of Benedict XVI’s renunciation since 2020.
LifeSiteNews has received and independently verified the full chain of custody of the official response, including the email from the Promoter’s Office (with attorney Roberto Tieghi), the lawyer’s formal access request dated 26 March 2026, and stamped Vatican receipt copies of the original petition and supplements. In the letter dated March 30, 2026 (Prot. N. 15/25 R.G.P.), Prof. Alessandro Diddi, the Promoter of Justice, rejected a request for access to the investigative file. The rejection was made solely on procedural grounds during an ongoing inquiry, not because the petition was deemed without merit.
The letter states explicitly (translated from the original Italian): “… l’Ufficio sta svolgendo indagini e non è, allo stato, possibile prevedere quando si concluderanno” (i.e. “… the Office is carrying out investigations and it is not, at present, possible to predict when they will conclude”).
It further notes that access to the dossier is not permitted while the istruttoria (investigative phase) is underway. The signed original bears the protocol number, letterhead, and Diddi’s handwritten signature.
This is the first time the Vatican’s criminal investigative office has put in writing that Cionci’s multi-year claims have triggered an active investigation file on the validity of Benedict’s renunciation. Even if the investigation ultimately concludes without public findings, the mere existence of an open criminal case file marks a significant development in the ongoing debate over the 2013 resignation.
Supported by a team of Latinists, canon lawyers, attorneys, and Church historians, Cionci has produced 1,500 articles, 2,800 podcasts, 185 conferences, and 55 petitions. On June 6, 2024, he filed the original 100-page criminal petition (protocol 116/24) with the Tribunal of the Vatican City State. It was later supplemented by a first formal supplement on 13 February 2025, a second formal supplement on 11 November 2025, and a further complaint in February 2026 regarding the alleged falsification of the Declaratio.
The core argument is that Benedict’s Declaratio deliberately or canonically distinguished between munus (the papal office itself) and ministerium (the exercise of that office), rendering the resignation invalid and leaving the See impeded (sede impedita).
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Benedict himself employed similar language. In the Declaratio he stated that he was renouncing “the ministry” (ministerium) of Bishop of Rome without explicitly renouncing the Petrine munus. In his final general audience on 27 February 2013 he said he was resigning only “the active exercise of the ministry,” while remaining “in a new way at the side of the crucified Lord” and continuing “in the service of prayer” within “the enclosure of Saint Peter.” His private secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, later described the situation as an “enlarged Petrine ministry” with both an active and a contemplative dimension. However, both Benedict and Gänswein have explicitly rejected the conclusion that these distinctions rendered the resignation invalid or left Benedict still holding the munus.
Cionci informed LifeSite that he was personally questioned by Promoter of Justice Prof. Alessandro Diddi as a witness for four hours on 12 April 2025, further confirming the active nature of the investigation.
Based on his thesis and consultation with his canon lawyers, Cionci contends that Leo XIV cannot be considered the legitimate Pope by the faithful for the following reasons:
- he was elected by 108 false cardinals appointed by Bergoglio;
- he was elected by 133 electors, which is 13 more than the 120 provided for by the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis (which was never derogated by Francis);
- and the discovery of a smartphone on one of the cardinals after the Extra Omnes on May 7.
Cionci’s work has drawn public attention among figures in traditional Catholic circles. Among them is Fr. Giorgio Maria Faré, a Carmelite priest with a doctorate in fundamental theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Fr. Faré drew initial inspiration from Dr. Cionci’s research in preparing his first study on the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, published on October 13, 2024, and he participated in three public events organized by Dr. Cionci at the end of 2024. However, their respective positions have since progressively diverged. In particular, Fr. Faré does not share Dr. Cionci’s most recent interpretation of the Declaratio as a canonical “decisio” and explicitly distances himself from the campaign promoted by Dr. Cionci, which includes urging the faithful not to participate in the so-called “una cum” Eucharistic celebrations in which the name of Leo (and Francis in the past) is mentioned in the Canon.
Another priest who has stood alongside Cionci is Fr. Fernando Maria Cornet, who holds degrees in theology and patristics from the Pontifical Patristic Institute Augustinianum in Rome. Fr. Cornet has joined Cionci in presentations defending the sede impedita position
RELATED: Italian priest excommunicated, another laicized for declaring Francis isn’t pope
The verified March 30 letter confirms the investigation remains open and its conclusion date unknown. Cionci’s supporters see this as concrete evidence that the Vatican can no longer simply ignore the sede impedita question.
The full verified text of the Promoter of Justice’s letter (Prot. N. 15/25 R.G.P.) is available for review. The main part of Cionci’s petition can be found here.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article described Father Giorgio Maria Faré as broadly aligned with Dr. Andrea Cionci’s positions. Fr. Faré has subsequently informed LifeSiteNews that this is no longer true, and the specifics of this breach can be read above.
