OriginalJS;10695579 said:
Two popes in residence! There havenāt been two popes in residence ever, as far as I know. During the Great Schism the various popes were in different cities, I think. These are indeed exciting times!
No, one Pope in residence, Pope Francis. Our beloved Benedect is our retired pope and no longer has any authority other than all the other retired bishops have. Lets keep them both in our love and prayers. God Bless, Memaw
He is not a retired pope. He is a former pope. In other words, he is no longer a pope at all. The papacy is an office, not part of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Unlike the bishopric, one can be a retired bishop, because one cannot undo ordination. One can certainly abdicate an office, which is what he did.
You are kind of splitting hairs here. Just last week at the bush library dedication lots of people were saying āfive presidentsā when they referred to the group of former presidents.
We know that to be unconstitutional. Itās just bad English. There can only be one president and former presidents. We should not apply American ignorance to the Holy See. The Vatican has enough problems without acting like Americans.
And like political leaders seek out advice from former presidents, I am sure that a number of cardinals will seek out the guidance of his holiness emeritus pope Benedict during his ( hopefully long) retirement.
That all depends on the pope. Since this is uncharted waters, because weāve never had a pope and a former pope, we donāt know what the rules will be.
Pope Francis can prohibit this or the Pope Emeritus can refuse to become involved. My guess is that Pope Francis wonāt have to prohibit anything. Pope Emeritus will not make himself available in that capacity. Benedict XVI is a scholar, a gentleman and a humble man. I can see him pointing said cardinals back to the proper authorities to get their advice.
There is also the other piece of this. He no longer has access to what goes on inside the Vatican. He does not attend meetings. He is not privy to confidences. He has less rights at the Vatican than do bishops of dioceses. He no longer has a diocese under his care or any office in the Church. There is no need for him to be in the loop. His advice is limited to what he knows, not what may happen after he left office.
I can see some cardinals making this mistake, because they are products of their cultures, especially Americans and Europeans. In our countries former heads of state seem to dabble in the affairs of state, even though they are no longer in the loop. People often turn to them for guidance. Again, being the man that he is, I can also see Benedict XVI discouraging this or not making himself available.
:harp: