Pope Benedict XVI 'to resign'

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triciafrancess said:
I respect your opinions and agree with your analysis that perhaps Pope Benedict is sending a message that it’s time to set a new precedent for aging and ailing popes, but I’m not sure I agree with it. To me, it feels as though he is buying into the culture’s precedent that people have to be active and productive to be valuable.

I remember when Pope Benedict was elected that I felt kind of sorry for him. It was well known that he was ready to retire and wanted to live a quiet life of praying and writing. I thought it was so very courageous of him to accept the papacy knowing that he was then committed for the rest of his life. It never occurred to me that he wouldn’t (or didn’t have to) honor that commitment.

Maybe it’s time for a change in tradition, and maybe Pope Benedict’s decision will set a precedent that turns out to be for the good of the Church, so I’m praying to be able to keep an open mind about it. But, change is hard, and I think the surprise factor is what makes this so difficult to deal with. I would like to say I think it’s a courageous decision, but instead, I’m having abandonment issues.
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Rather than guessing…have faith, and trust! 🙂
 
Other_Eric said:
I don’t think that any medical rationale, on its own, is sufficient for resignation from the papacy. What lies behind that is the dismal assumption that God does not necessarily provide the Roman Pontiff with the tools necessary to do his job. You have a problem with my doubts over this one exercise of temporal authority? What about the doubts over every subsequent exercise of this power that the pope’s resignation now makes possible?
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You seem to be ruling out God’s hand in this, in that the Holy Spirit may have touched our Holy Father in a way that we do not understand.

Have faith and trust. God remains in control. 🙂

Through faith we believe that the Holy Spirit guides ach Papal Conclave, which means that the Holy Spirit (God) knew exactly how many days and hours Pope Benedict XVI would serve.

Have faith and trust. 🙂
 
Cardinal Dolan of New York had nice words to say about Pope Benedict. Evidently the Pope has health issues. The next couple of months will be very interesting for the Church.
 
Other_Eric said:
Yes, canon law anticipates the resignation of a pope. This says nothing about moral character of such a move. Canon law anticipates any number of immoral actions and provides a framework for dealing with them. The papal resignation canons can just as easily be seen as protecting the Church from being orphaned by a faithless pope, since in their absence, the Church would be vulnerable to upheaval.
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I think you have a misunderstanding, when it comes to resignation of the pope, canon law does not just provide a framework for dealing with it, it allows it. There is a difference there.
 
Vatican City, 11 February 2013 (VIS) - Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, on hearing the news of the Pope’s resignation from the Petrine ministry, expressed his nearness, and that of all the cardinals, to Benedict XVI.
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“We have heard you,” he said, “with a sense of loss and almost disbelief. In your words we see the great affection that you have always had for God’s Holy Church, for this Church that you have loved so much. Now, let me say, on behalf of this apostolic cenacle?the College of Cardinals?on behalf of your beloved collaborators, allow me to say that we are closer than ever to you, as we have been during these almost eight luminous years of your pontificate. On 19 April 2005, if I remember correctly, at the end of the conclave I asked ? ‘Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?’ And you did not hesitate, although moved with emotion, to answer that you accepted, trusting in the Lord’s grace and the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church. Like Mary on that day she gave her ‘yes’, and your luminous pontificate began, following in the wake of continuity, in that continuity with your 265 predecessors in the Chair of Peter, over two thousand years of history from the Apostle Peter, the humble Galilean fisherman, to the great popes of the last century from St. Pius X to Blessed John Paul II.”
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“Holy Father, before 28 February, the day that, as you have said, you wish to place the word ‘end’ to your pontifical service, conducted with so much love and so humbly, before 28 February, we will be able to better express our feelings. So too will the many pastors and faithful throughout the world, so too all those of good will together with the authorities of many countries. ? Also, still this month, we will have the joy of listening to your voice as pastor: Ash Wednesday, Thursday with the clergy of Rome, in the Sunday Angelus, and the Wednesday general audiences, we will still have many occasions to hear your paternal voice. ? Your mission, however, will continue. You have said that you will always be near us with your witness and your prayer. Of course, the stars always continue to shine and so will the star of your pontificate always shine among us. We are near to you, Holy Father, and we ask you to bless us.”
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Other_Eric said:
On the contrary, I was not the one who speculated on hidden reasons for the pope’s resignation. I grounded my comments firmly in the reasons provided by the pope. I judge those reasons insufficient. Speculating that there are deeper, more potent reasons behind the pope’s action is deeply uncharitable and also betrays a taste for magisterial intrigue worthy of Dan Brown, not a responsible Catholic.
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None of this is for you to judge. In there lies the problem I think.
 
kelvinf said:
Can. 332
§1 The Roman Pontiff acquires full and supreme power in the Church when, together with episcopal consecration, he has been lawfully elected and has accepted the election. Accordingly, if he already has the episcopal character, he receives this power from the moment he accepts election to the supreme pontificate. If he does not have the episcopal character, he is immediately to be ordained Bishop.

§2 Should it happen that the Roman Pontiff resigns from his office, it is required for validity that the resignation be freely made and properly manifested, but it is not necessary that it be accepted by anyone.

What does that mean?

And to whom is he going to address or send the resignation to?
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What if his resignation is not accepted?
 
Santi2 said:
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Thank you for posting that. This is further confirmation that we need to trust his successorship. One article I read pointed out that the current College of Cardinals reflects BXVI’s own orthodoxy and perspective. It would be diffcult to believe that any man not in agreement with his overall vision will succeed him. Again, as I said earlier, he himself foreshadowed this day very explicitly, referring to the possibility of resigning in the near future.

I have my own preferences, but my opinion is irrelevant, as is the opinion of every other Catholic. We should all leave it in the Holy Spirit’s hands. 🙂
 
Elizabeth502 said:
Thank you for posting that. This is further confirmation that we need to trust his successorship. One article I read pointed out that the current College of Cardinals reflects BXVI’s own orthodoxy and perspective. It would be diffcult to believe that any man not in agreement with his overall vision will succeed him. Again, as I said earlier, he himself foreshadowed this day very explicitly, referring to the possibility of resigning in the near future.

I have my own preferences, but my opinion is irrelevant, as is the opinion of every other Catholic. We should all leave it in the Holy Spirit’s hands. 🙂
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Exactly. Faith and trust! 🙂
 
Elizabeth502 said:
Thank you for posting that. This is further confirmation that we need to trust his successorship. One article I read pointed out that the current College of Cardinals reflects BXVI’s own orthodoxy and perspective. It would be diffcult to believe that any man not in agreement with his overall vision will succeed him. Again, as I said earlier, he himself foreshadowed this day very explicitly, referring to the possibility of resigning in the near future.

I have my own preferences, but my opinion is irrelevant, as is the opinion of every other Catholic. We should all leave it in the Holy Spirit’s hands. 🙂
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Agree!!! 👍👍👍
 
Pope’s brother says Benedict XVI wants “more quiet” in his old age
“My brother hopes for more quiet in his old age,” Georg Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI’s brother, stated to German news magazine Die Welt. He said he had known about his brother’s decision for some months now: “I had been informed,” the cleric told the magazine at 12:49.
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Answering some questions put to him by German news agency DPA, Georg Ratzinger explained the Pope’s reasons for resigning: “age is catching up with him.”
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In 2011, Georg Ratzinger had a hunch his brother may have had to step down prematurely for health reasons : “If he is one day not able to carry out his task for health reasons – Georg had said in another interview – he should have the courage to renounce his position.”
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You wouldn’t believe the amount of hatred being spewed against our Holy Father on secular news sites like Yahoo News. 😦
 
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