The Pope's resignation...

[fpb]

...is not altogether without precedent. Apart from the case of Celestine VI, Pius XII wrote and signed, but left undated, an act of resignation, to be activated in case the Nazis kidnapped him. That is to say that it is not completely out of the order of things. And the fact that people live longer now than they ever did before means that sooner or later something like this would have had to be considered. The job has got more rather than less demanding; from what I understand, one thing that helped Pope Benedict make up his mind was that his doctors had recommended no more intercontinental journeys, which are an essential part of the modern Papacy. I am still unhappy about it, because I love and admire the man so much, but I don't know what it is like to be in his shoes. And considering the storms that are about to engulf the Church from many sides (I refer to certain curious legal enactments passed in various countries including Britain), he may have felt that he could no longer summon the strength to fight and lead the people of God.

Comments

[harry piper (from livejournal.com)]

I know what you mean. He really knew how to speak about the Gospel in a humble and attractive way, and I thought that he really knew that he was an envoy to the modern world as well as a shepherd to his flock.
Ah, well - who knows? There are some quite attractive papabile (is that the word?) waiting in the wings. Turkson for Pope, anyone?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Maybe it will be someone nobody has heard of before. Remember Karol Woytila? Nobody had heard of him except for the conclave fathers - many of whom had been decidedly impressed by his ability to stand up to the Communists with no apparent effort.