Pope Francis has reported on a conspiracy in the Vatican Curia in a new interview book.
In the Spanish book "El sucesor" (The Successor), which will be published in Barcelona on Wednesday, the Pope talks about the documents that his predecessor Benedict XVI handed over to him in Castel Gandolfo on 23 March 2013.
The material was compiled at the time by Cardinals Julian Herranz, Jozef Tomko and Salvatore de Giorgi on behalf of Benedict.
According to Francis, a conspiracy was uncovered at the time, which mainly involved men "from the second row".
Among others, the conspiracy was directed against the later Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
The conspirators had wanted to prevent Parolin from becoming the new Cardinal Secretary of State in place of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Parolin has held this office since October 2013.
Curia functionaries involved
The Pope explained that some Curia officials had been involved in the plot.
Benedict XVI had already transferred some of them during one term of office (2005-2013) and had recommended that his successor make further appointments for this reason.
He then did so with some delay.
Francis does not mention the names and functions of those affected.
In the book, Francis also reports that he had already united a third of all cardinals eligible to vote in the 2005 conclave.
However, he did not have a realistic chance of becoming pope: He was only used because some wanted to prevent Joseph Ratzinger being elected as pope, according to Francis.