MUNICH — The former Pope Benedict XVI said the Catholic Church is threatened by a "worldwide dictatorship of seemingly humanist ideologies." He cited gay marriage, abortion and the "creation of humans in the laboratory" as examples.

The retired pope, 93, said: "Modern society is in the process of formulating an anti-Christian creed, and resisting this creed is punished by social excommunication." Commenting on the state of the church in the 21st century, he said: "Events have shown by now that the crisis of faith has above all led to a crisis of Christian existence."

The remarks were published in the final chapter of a biography of Benedict by bestselling author Peter Seewald published on May 4. The author said Benedict made the comments in autumn 2018.

In the interview, which had not been published before, the former pope said that he had written a spiritual testament. This will presumably not be revealed until after his death. The pope did not comment on its contents.

He also explained the reasons for his resignation as pope in 2013. He denied that it was because of corruption in the Vatican or the "Vatileaks" scandal. Instead, he said it had become increasingly clear to him that in addition to possible dementia, "other forms of insufficient ability to hold office properly are also possible." Read more via NCR