Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonisations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
From the Vatican, 10 February 2013
BENEDICTUS PP XVI
Comments
Post a Comment
I am stunned and in tears..
dear Lord we need someone of Pope Benedict’s caliber to continue. I
can’t think of anyone right now that would be ready for such
a monumental task. May the Holy Spirit guide our cardinals
into a good man of strong character who can put his hand to the
helm of our Church.
Amen, Tapestry, amen! Let all us faithful pray and fast for our Holy Father Benedict and beg the Holy Spirit to have,mercy on us and grant a strong and saintly Pope to guide us in these treacherous times!
PLEASE dear God, DON’T let it be Cardinal Dolan!!!
I, too, am saddened to tears. What a sad, sad day.
The decision was made by The Pope; it’s a decision made with humility. ... ‘Lord, renew your Church by the light of the Gospel, strengthen the bond of unity between the faithful and the pastors of your people, together with our Pope Benedict XVI.’
He is actually setting a wonderful example for future Popes. The world is too complex now for Popes going forward to stay on past full capability stage. And he’s teaching of all of us to stop driving our cars when we are advanced elderly.
Pope Benedict is a holy and humble man - a true servant of the servants of Christ. While we will naturally speculate about his successor, we must pray for the strength to accept God’s will, trusting that His Holy Spirit guides the Conclave so that whoever is chosen IS the right choice. What we believe is that Christ will choose His Vicar, the right man for the times.
Pope Benedict is a holy, thoughtful, and devoted shepherd. He says he came to this decision “after having repeatedly examined [his] conscience before God”. He has a “certainty” that this is what needs to happen. This is a loss, and it is a great change. But I think we need to have confidence and trust in the God who established this Church in the first place. The Holy Father is once again setting a beautiful, living example of how to be the child of a good and gracious Father.
My prayers are with Pope Benedict XVI and with the upcoming Conclave. I have no doubt that he made this decsion with much prayer and humility and for what he feels is in the best interest of the Church. I trust the Holy Spirit to guide the Cardinals as they choose our next Pope.
what a sad news.. God send us another good man to lead our big church. Hail Mary, pray for us and for our Pope Benedict XVI and for the Church.
it’s very sad to hear that Pope Benedict the xvi is resigning. i dont no but what ever has formed his decision to resigning, i pray the Lord should give him the strengh to continue to do God’s work. we need him the more with all his experience. He is our father and everything. May the Lord guid and protect him for the rest of his life.
May the Lord send us another dedicated cardinal and father or better choose for us the best to lead us. someone with youth interest and would guid we the youth to attain the highest grade in life.
Lord, send out Your Spirit and renew the face of the Earth! Thank you, Papa Benedict - for everything!
In my humble opinion as a Catholic, I received the news with surprise. But, I think that this is a moment for our Church, and especially those near the Holy Father to stop giving statements to the press. In times like this, it is important not to be driven by emotion or the pressure of public opinion, but rather by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our Church has to ask, and the Cardinals have to ask whether or not this resignation is what’s best for our Church. A move like this could result in division. We have to be prudent, and consider the effect, not only the cause. We must consider that perhaps it would be better for the Holy Father to continue, even if he is ill. I have confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ, that our Cardinals will do the will of God.
While it’s surprising to us, it was not a sudden decision by the Pope, nor an easy one. He took a year to pray about it and think about its ramifications, and he’s been saying since before he was made pope that in our current times, with people living longer than they used to, the day was coming when it is normal for aged popes to resign.
Bill Bannon, I agree with you. This is a good example. Pope Benedict is one of only a very few people ever to resign from such a powerful office voluntarily. Pope Gregory XII, George Washington, Calvin Coolidge and a very few others are in that company.
This year of faith would mean to adhere to one directive that Christ made and that JPII was saying at all times: Be not afraid.
The Holy Spirit will guide this conclave. Nearly all of whom were put there by Benedict or John Paul II. Cardinal Mahoney, if he has not properly repented and received God’s grace, will be only one voice.
I believe that Peter Turcson (sp?), by his controversial comments ANd by his very recent interview, cheerfully talking about what HE’D do as pope, makes an unlikely candidate for those who fear Malachy’s prophecy.
By the way, the tail end of that prophecy was added on many years later by someone else so another of Christ’s statements rings true: We are not to wonder or know the hour or they day.
At this moment in time, when words are so ‘relative’ and twisted against us by such diabolically influenced media, academia and global governments, our clear responsibility is to follow the example of Benedict, John Paul II and Mother Theresa who were known by their love, not their words. I hope to hear that mid 20th century song more frequently (most often I don’t say that about mid 20th century church music): “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love”
God bless everyone on this most blessed first day of Lent. And God please watch over Benedict and guide this conclave to make a just and humble choice. Amen
Raymond Cardinal Burke for Pope!
I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide the cardinals to give the Church another holy, humble and scholarly person as Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II. One who will guide the Church through his prayers, a humble demeanor and spiritually insightful writings that will guide Jesus’ Church throughout his pontificate. It saddens me to think that Pope Benedict is leaving the Papal See of Peter, but giving the Church an opportunity to select another Pope in the tradition of the last 5 popes who brought saintliness and openness to a Church in great need of these strengths in an era of secularism and materialism. Thank you, your Holiness for giving us your time, talent and a treasure of great spiritual writings. May God continue to bless you in the short time you have here on earth and ready to receive you with wide open arms when you leave us as you go into eternal life.
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give The National Catholic Register permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
The time period for commenting on this article has expired.