Pope Francis says papacy might be just 4-5 yrs

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I believe that Pope Francis’ idea of quitting the papacy in 4-5 yrs is very demoralizing to Catholics. To me it shows his lack of faith in God. God is the one who chose him to be pope and as a faithful servant of the Lord, should finish his papacy till he dies. Otherwise,
he is showing a bad example to people of the world, and not only to Catholics.
There are people who have problems , sickness etc., and is advised to hang in there, and to pray to have the grace to bear the suffering. Then our Pope quits because he is tired and cannot handle it physically. He should actually pray that God will give him the grace to lead
His church till the end of his life.
 
Nongpogi said:
I believe that Pope Francis’ idea of quitting the papacy in 4-5 yrs is very demoralizing to Catholics. To me it shows his lack of faith in God. God is the one who chose him to be pope and as a faithful servant of the Lord, should finish his papacy till he dies. Otherwise,
he is showing a bad example to people of the world, and not only to Catholics.
There are people who have problems , sickness etc., and is advised to hang in there, and to pray to have the grace to bear the suffering. Then our Pope quits because he is tired and cannot handle it physically. He should actually pray that God will give him the grace to lead
His church till the end of his life.
Click to expand...
I completely and totally disagree. This is the 21 st century and with medical technology being what it is, a person can live many years in an incapasitated state. That, in my view, is unwise for the church. 8 -10 years of when we have a pontiff who can’t do anything?

I believe we need a vicar who is, in both body AND mind, to run Our Lord’s church. It’s not about suffering and sickness. It’s about being able to affectively run the church.
 
The Pope has not put in his retirement papers, he just said he has a “feeling” he might not be pope for more than a few years. He is well known for making statements off the top of his head like that, there is nothing else to back up his quitting the papacy. I wouldn’t worry about it.:cool:
 
I don’t really feel that its a “bad” thing. There may be things we don’t know that is going on with him. I am just suprised. I really like him and will be real sad when he leaves.
 
His predecessor set the mood for retiring…so why can’t Pope Francis do likewise?
 
Pope Francis himself made the point that not too long ago the idea of a Bishop Emeritus would have been a novelty. Now it is the norm for bishops to retire. They never cease being bishops, high priests of the Lord (and this goes for Benedict too!), but they have stepped down from active duty. This is a recognition of the reality that men are living a lot longer. Is it in the Church’s best interest to be run by a pope who is barely able to function? If bishops can step down so can the pope- he is ultimately a bishop, not some magical fourth degree of holy orders. The arguments made against papal abdication could also be made for all bishops…after all, each and every bishop is called by God and set aside as a vicar of Christ for his own diocese.
 
Marie5890 said:
I completely and totally disagree. This is the 21 st century and with medical technology being what it is, a person can live many years in an incapasitated state. That, in my view, is unwise for the church. 8 -10 years of when we have a pontiff who can’t do anything?

I believe we need a vicar who is, in both body AND mind, to run Our Lord’s church. It’s not about suffering and sickness. It’s about being able to affectively run the church.
Click to expand...
This is a very good point. He could live to 100 or more. He could develop Alzheimer’s disease (God forbid!).
 
We watched the late great Pope JP II suffer yet remain present. His holiness was a remarkable example of how to suffer with dignity…I don’t believe his mental faculties were in any way jeopardizing the administration of the Holy Office. Ofcourse he was the exception…I don’t think that any Pope should retire just because he feels he has reached retirement age. I can’t really say any more than that about Pope Francis…don’t wish to be uncharitable.
 
Nongpogi said:
I believe that Pope Francis’ idea of quitting the papacy in 4-5 yrs is very demoralizing to Catholics. To me it shows his lack of faith in God. God is the one who chose him to be pope and as a faithful servant of the Lord, should finish his papacy till he dies. Otherwise,
he is showing a bad example to people of the world, and not only to Catholics.
There are people who have problems , sickness etc., and is advised to hang in there, and to pray to have the grace to bear the suffering. Then our Pope quits because he is tired and cannot handle it physically. He should actually pray that God will give him the grace to lead
His church till the end of his life.
Click to expand...
How on earth can you reach such strange conclusions…
 
Did the Pope even say anything about quitting? If an almost 80 relative tells me they aren’t sure they will make it here for Christmas 5 years from now, I don’t assume they are voluntarily going to “quit” coming to visit.
 
Perhaps Pope Francis is having thoughts about the escalation of radical Islam atrocities and realizes that his pontificate could come to an end at any time by a violent terrorist act. Remember who shot Pope John Paul II.:eek:.
 
Nongpogi said:
I believe that Pope Francis’ idea of quitting the papacy in 4-5 yrs is very demoralizing to Catholics. To me it shows his lack of faith in God. God is the one who chose him to be pope and as a faithful servant of the Lord, should finish his papacy till he dies. Otherwise,
he is showing a bad example to people of the world, and not only to Catholics.
There are people who have problems , sickness etc., and is advised to hang in there, and to pray to have the grace to bear the suffering. Then our Pope quits because he is tired and cannot handle it physically. He should actually pray that God will give him the grace to lead
His church till the end of his life.
Click to expand...
I think he is warning you to waken up ,and read the bibles prophesies . We do not go
on for ever ,there is going to be a change like never before in human history ,and the
Church has ignored the idea of 'end times ’ ,or rather been afraid to confront it .

Look around you ,all the signs are there .It is only a matter of time as ‘we are in the season’, and it looks like dear Francis is trying to warn you in advance .He is a real pastor, not a coward .
 
Although very rare, Canon Law allows a Supreme Pontiff to resign, and there have been resignations before Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis is pushing 80 years old and we don’t know anything about his state of health.
He is likely preparing the laity for the possibility that he might not be around for an extended pontificate, like we had with St John Paul II, under whose reign most of us grew up.

In any event, God will guide his Holiness on that decision, as He has done with Pope Benedict and all previous Popes.
 
It will not surprise me at all if papal resignations become the norm. I don’t think its a bad thing. With modern healthcare, people’s lives are extended even though they are in bad health. And considering a pope gets the best healthcare in the world, it is even more likely for a pope to live a long time while he is very ill.
With St. JP II, on the whole, it was a good thing. It showed us first hand the dignity of the aged and suffering. But it likely had its downside with respect to the governing of the Church. Benedict XVI probably saw this first hand and did not think the Church should go through that again.
How long was St. JP II so sick that it adversely affected his ability to lead the Church: 5 years? Even 10 years? Do we want that happening for every papacy? I don’t think so.
I agree with Pope Francis, we do not want a mandatory retirement age for the Pope, and couldn’t have one anyway because the first pope who didn’t want to retire could simply change the law. But Benedict XVI did the Church a favor in showing how a papal retirement can be handled very smoothly.
 
I didn’t take it to mean that he would be quitting or retiring. He obviously knows the threats that have been made against him in recent months by ISIS. I do believe it’s quite possible that he will be martyred and that is how his pontificate would come to an end. Perhaps he has been given Divine revelation about this and is warning us.
 
Here’s my speculation on what the Pope has said…

I believe Pope Francis is about to make some very drastic changes in the Church. This is going to upset a lot of tradiotionalists and he knows this. He is bracing himself for the backlash by “fanatics”, as he said, who will be outraged by these changes and he fears they will even assassinate him for it.
 
SonOfMan said:
Here’s my speculation on what the Pope has said…

I believe Pope Francis is about to make some very drastic changes in the Church. This is going to upset a lot of tradiotionalists and he knows this. He is bracing himself for the backlash by “fanatics” who will be outraged by these changes and he fears they will even assassinate him for it.
Click to expand...
I think he is ,but I would not be naming the groups responsible ,as it is often those whom one would not expect .
 
allycat10 said:
I didn’t take it to mean that he would be quitting or retiring. He obviously knows the threats that have been made against him in recent months by ISIS. I do believe it’s quite possible that he will be martyred and that is how his pontificate would come to an end. Perhaps he has been given Divine revelation about this and is warning us.
Click to expand...
Well, I for one will be praying for him ,but it is unlikely to be ISIS .
 
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