VATICAN CITY (AP) — It was the quietest of announcements that had the effect of a thunder-clap on the Catholic world: A year ago Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI said in a voice so soft that cardinals strained to hear (and in a Latin not all could easily follow) that he was becoming the first pontiff to resign in more than half a millennium. On the eve of the anniversary, Benedict’s longtime private secretary credited his boss’ stunning decision with opening the way to the “enormous impact” Pope Francis is having on the church and world at large.

Monsignor Georg Gaenswein’s comments sent out a message of continuity between the awkward, bookish Benedict and his charismatic, super-star successor, the first Jesuit pope and the first pontiff from Latin America. It also may suggest that Benedict approves of the dramatic changes that Francis is bringing about within the church — even if many seem to go against the grain of his more restrained papacy.