I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to have a pope who lingers on incapacitated for five or ten years.

We can’t just tell popes to stay in office if they are not up to the task of governing.

If I remember correctly, a number of popes WERE driven from office, in spite of the practice of staying on until death. I’ll have to re-visit that.

The vivacious Father Rutler warns “In an age of dangerously limited attention spans and fickle loyalties, there is a danger of proposing that popes last only as long as people want them.” 
Father Rutler is a terrific person but i have to strongly disagree on this one.It’s a terrible precedent to set either way. I recall hearing rumbings in the Church for Bleseed John Paul II to abdiate when he became so incapacitated it appeared that he could barely function. I am thankful he did not but even more thankful that it was HIS decision to make. The Church has had 2 abdications in a 600 yr period. If we look at it historically (rather than at the moment)it’s not exactly a trend.
What we don’t need is putting a Pope who afterall has the title Supreme Pontiff(among others)in a box where he either must stay until his last breathe or must abdicate because there might be people calling for his abdication. Pope Benedict the XVI states that he went before God with a clear conscience when he made the decision. I am sure that Blessed John Paul II went before God with a clear conscience when he made his decision.
There is exactly where the decision should be made.
People are going to suggest all kinds of things in re to Pope Benedict’s successor. There will be people writing from now until the white smoke appears that the new Pope should be younger, older, more modern (that is more ‘progressive’), more traditional,less traditional…the truth is the Pope is always going to be the target of people who want to make decisions for him;ultimately for the Church. Not going to happen. The dangerous precedent is not the decision itself but rather who makes it.

The only reason why the Holy Father would face PRESSURE to abdicate his ministry earlier than death would be because so many fail to respect his leadership and authority to do what is in the best interests of the Church, akin to what is happening here in this post.

Pope John Paul II made the right decision. Pope Benedict made the right decision.  These are the decisions they made in contemplation of so many factors, chief among them love of God and Church.  I have tolerated laypeople “priest-ing” from the pews, so to speak. I have spoken out against those who think they know better how to be a Bishop than a Bishop. But to think any one person knows how to be Pope better than the Pope, or to make judgments in advance about the behavior of any given Pope, is just too unbearable. When you have the weight of the Church upon your body, mind, and soul; when you have over one billion souls in your personal care; when you are blessed with the Sacrament of Holy Orders which, in a very real way, “weds” one to the Church, then I will contemplate your words with earnest.

Unbelievably to me is the lack of any consideration above that the Pope must be a servant to others; on the contrary, it would seem that you have suggested that the Pope must be Pope until death because people would belittle him otherwise. In other words, that the Pope must stand above the criticism of others, and that this is, or perhaps should be, a chief consideration of the Holy Father. This widely misses the mark.

In the mean time, we need people to defend the Pope against the maliciousness of those who just don’t understand, like those who believe the Pope is lazy, or mentally infirm, or selfish. We must offer support and help create an environment for the Pope to operate in complete freedom to love his Church wholeheartedly, absent those pressures.  What you are doing here, I believe, is antithetical to that cause.

I have enough confidence in the See of Peter to believe that if the next Pope, indeed if the next ten Popes decide to resign, then it’s best that they resign. I doubt many of us can claim, much less ought to claim, that we know whether any Pope, future or present, should retire or not beter than he does himself. The hubris that must be required to publish an opinion such as this is astounding and scandalous.

In the past, from the very first Pope onwards, if anyone, be they inside or outside of the Church, really wanted to get rid of a Pope, they usually didn’t have a problem making that happen.

So I don’t think this sets a dangerous precedent. In fact, giving it just a very little thought, the idea of having an older, retired “Pope Emeritus”—roaming the Vatican, writing, praying, and being around to offer advice in times of extreme crisis so that a younger, currently acting Pope could be much more engaged in the travel and adminitrative duties of the Papacy—is actually a pretty cool idea to me.

So, future Popes should stay in the office until death because you’re afraid?

If our Holy Father’s decision truly is guided by the Holy Spirit (which I believe it is) then we don’t have to worry about any dangerous precedent. The Holy Spirit will take care of that when the times comes.

Kaitlin

The Holy Spirit is not a magic make everything alright fairy.  The Holy Spirit protects the Church from error in faith and morals, not from man made disasters and bad decision making.

Oh David, you are so right.  It is hubristic and scandalous to warn of obvious dangers.

I suggest you breathe into a paper bag.

Finally, a Catholic “media guy” who gets it! The pope’s abdication is setting up a dangerous precedent.

I could not disagree more with your statement. Sure, there is a lesson in suffering. But there is also a lesson in listening to your conscience. There is a lesson in learning to let go. There is a lesson in recognizing your limitations. There is a lesson in listening to your conscience. There is a lesson in turning to God for strength.

We live in an age of “we can do it ourselves…we don’t need any help” society. This article reflects that…this idea that we are machines who should continue on when we have no capacity to do so (because heaven forbid we look weak).  But Pope B. taught us in his resigning that we must always lean on God, that we ourselves are not strong enough without Him.

I would much rather have a Pope that is an authentic witness and leader of the faith, then a shell of a man with decsions made by others.

Bishops usually retire.  The Pope is a bishop.  Therefore, why can’t/shouldn’t he retire?

Do people actually read the whole post or just stop reading once they see that I say “The pope should die in office?” I ask this because most commenters are not actually criticizing me for the points I made, just emotionally reacting to my initial assertion.

Danielle,
I said nothing about the relative merits of suffering, my unaddressed points remain as my reasoning.

Mr. Archbold, if it’s an “obvious danger,” the Pope can figure it out himself. They tend to both be smart and not take demands from newspaper columnists.

I disagree also. If recent pontiffs are any indication, I doubt that any man who was elected to the papacy would be such a pushover that he would allow himself to be pressured into resigning against his own better judgment.

The important question is what is best for the Church at the present moment. I think that both John Paul, in refusing to resign and thus allowing the world to witness his slow and painful decline, and Benedict, in choosing to resign and thus making way for someone with the vigor to meet the demands placed on the papacy in the modern age, made their decisions with that criterion in mind. In both cases, they taught that what is most important is not the man who holds the office, but Christ.

“is actually a pretty cool idea to me.”

this is EXACTLY why each Pope must examine his conscience before God. One of his titles IS (again)the Supreme Pontiff. the CHurch is not a democracy. He is not going to take a poll to see what the ‘cool ideas’ are.
Maybe ppl should spend less time weighing in on what the Pope’s decision should be and more time in prayer. Hint to Mr Cool Idea but spoken in charity.

Pat, i was not criticizing you at all. My apologies if it seemed that way

Sorry David L., you threw out rash accusations of hubris and scandal and you shouldn’t have.

the topic was brought up in an article at Newsmax but with a slightly different take on it-i responded to the Newsmax article here and it takes up some of the same points discussed in the comments: http://therasberrypalace.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/lisa-barron-and-her-pope-benedict-xvi-spin/

@Pat Sarver: No offense taken… I guess? I mean, I DO need to spend more time in prayer, but does that mean I also can’t find things cool anymore? If so, that makes me sad. :-(

Also, I’m pretty sure Benedict’s decision to resign was NOT based on whether or not I or anyone else thought it would be a cool idea. So I don’t think that thinking it’s cool after the fact endangers the Church or puts it at risk of becoming a democracy in any way—for the record, I actually didn’t find it cool at the time, but after thinking about it a bit more, I can see how it could be a rather cool idea.

So what can I say: the Holy Spirit does some pretty cool things!

Victor, here is the whole article by Fr Rutler. http://wdtprs.com/blog/2013/02/rutler-on-the-popes-abdication/ 
i HIGHLY recommend FR Z’s Blog. It is insightful,informative and he does his best to keep it accurate. There are terrific discussions going on there now re this topic as well as other good articles re all things Catholic.Give it a read and let us know what you think. Pat’s article is good too. We need to discuss the matter but ULTIMATELY the decision rests in the Pontiff’s hands to discern as best as possible God’s will. If Pope Benedict says that he went to God with a clear conscience then in charity(as well as knowing ONLY God really knows a person’s heart)then i have to take his word for it.

Karen made the one point that matters more than anything else that has been said;“In both cases, they taught that what is most important is not the man who holds the office, but Christ.”

AMEN!

Matthew 16:18

It really is that simple.

May God bless us all and our Lenten season.

“the Vatican bureaucracy can stifle, impede, and frustrate. ...the energy needed to overcome these obstacles.”

Why not overcome the obstacles by reforming the Vatican bureaucracy?  I do not think we are approaching an age where popes step down because of popular pressure, but I think the age of stifling Vatican bureaucracy has gone on quite long enough.

Pope Benedict did take on reform of the Roman Curia. A daunting task. Perhaps not far enough but at least made the effort.

Evvan wrote,“Matthew 16:18

It really is that simple.”
YEP

This article seems to be off-base a bit.  Aging is a very individual and unpredictable thing—even for Popes.  None of us knows how it will go for us, if and when we do live into old age. Our individual genetics plays a a large role.

The Pope’s resignation is hardly a dangerous precedent.  I think the author’s concerns are overblown/not grounded in fact.

Why should the RCC have to contend with a Pope in the future who is clearly not up to the immense tasks of the Papacy? 

Each Pope will need to make his own decision in this regard. There should be no “the Pope HAS to do this or HAS to do that” mentality in regard to how long he is Bishop of Rome.

He is dying of congestive heart failure.  He already has a pacemaker installed and it’s on it’s last leg.

I use the term “retire” rather than “resign” although the latter is canonically correct.

“Resign” has too many pejorative overtones in our political and managerial media age. Resign also has overtones of laicization rather than “Fr Joe is retiring from parish duties” - where his parish has 1.2 billion parishioners in a difficult neighbourhood. The Catholic Church is the largest and oldest global organization.

Retiring shortly before one’s 86th birthday after a history of heart trouble is perfectly understandable even in an “ordinary job”. Priests and bishops are allowed to retire.

JP2 died publicly of Parkinsons in a noble witness. B16 saw what happened in the Vatican from the inside - we didn’t. We only heard rumours of ruthless and ambitious cardinals and bishops jockeying for power and audience in a chaotic administration with a power vacuum.

B16 has a pacemaker. In the past a heart attack or stroke might have resulted in a fairly quick death but modern medicine allows survival with a wide spectrum of effects, durations and degrees of debilitation. Long (months/decades?) periods of incapacity, rest and recuperation might be indicated. With periods of uncertainty. What would happen to the administration of the church if B16 was comatose or in doubtful possession of his faculties? Would a resignation then be canonically free?

Ariel Sharon was Israeli Prime Minister when he suffered a stroke and has been semi-comatose since 2006. There is no Deputy Pope or Vice Pope to cover for incapacity. There is no mechanism for declaring a Pope incapable.

If the Pope’s role was purely ‘spiritual’ or a figurehead, I would agree with Pat Archbold. A period of papal incapacity might be a great witness.

But the pope’s role also includes the administration of the church eg appointing bishops and cardinals and being the final judge in certain issues of canon law, liturgy and doctrine. To say nothing of pragmatic judgements of international diplomacy and implementing the social doctrine of the church in an age of 24hour news, the internet and aggressive competition from materialism, secularism, islamism and indifference.

Pope Benedict has made the right decision for the good of church in the circumstances.

Pat, I must question your point of view.  In light of your last post (“I want my Pope back”) as well as this one, it seems to me you want reality your way.  I offer to you a “thought experiment”:  How well will you be serving your family when you are 85, managing the CMR, running a large IT department, blogging, and doing it with the intensity and responsibility that is truly 24/7.  Do you think you might be willing to step aside from those positions to permit someone else to serve those whom you have served with a greater intensity and vigor?  Today’s reality is that we are increasing our lifespan faster than we are increasing our vitality—the Holy Father accepts this and has most graciously offered the church the chance to select a younger, more vigorous “Servant of the Servants of God.”

I disagree with the author. If there is one thing Popes already deal with, it’s pressure. Pressure to turn away from the Truth. So, pressure to step aside, if any, is just small potatoes.

Whether a Pope ends his term by dying in office or not, the Holy Spirit will guide the Church forever! What more do we need to worry about?

agree Kephas. it seems most of us are saying the same thing in different ways. Either way,the loss is one we feel.

Pat you wrote a very good article on the popes.  I’ve been fortunate to have lived during the reign of Pope Pius XII to Pope Benedict XVI and I loved all of them and truly believe they were all good men and wanted what was best for the Church.  I would like to know what your take and the other bloggers take is on the Prophecy of St Malachy regarding that the next pope to be elected will be the 268th pope, supposed to be the last pope, if he picks the name of Peter,and if he appears on the balcony dressed in red instead of the traditional white, this will be a sign the end of the world is near. Thanks much.

Fr Mitch Pacwa rec’d a question on Threshold of Hope re the prophecies of St Malachy.
His take was this. He called them the prophecies of Marlarky .He was not disparaging the Saint.Just the prophecies. I didn’t know this but he pointed out they were written after the supposed author’s death. Another thing he pointed out is that the (for lack of a better way of putting it)‘clues’ were so sparse and ambiguous that they could mean almost anything.
Finally,let’s consider this is private revelation. NO Catholic is under any obligation to accept private revelation even approved ones. It may not even be that if what Fr Mitch says is true;that they were not written by St Malachy.Now if the new Pope does pick the name Peter and wears red my ears might perk up.Not so much at the name of Peter. That would not be so extra-ordinary since it’s possible. The red instead of white, which is such a strong tradition, might be another matter. You’re bringing it up is not unusual. It came up at Fr Z’s blog. I’m concerned with the comment re Pope Benedict having chf. That is serious. He seemed to have some knowledge of medical conditions and it seems we may not have Our Holy Father for long after his abdication.We must pray.

You have certainly gone through it many times .Your insight and faith are greatly aprpeciated. It tells us that it will be ok. We still feel greif,very real greif but it does help to hear from someone who has witnessed the Pontificate longer than many of us have. As for the St Malachy Prophecy- a few things i learend from Fr Mitch Pacwa. No offense intended. here. Just passing it along.

Fr Mitch Pacwa rec’d a question on Threshold of Hope re the prophecies of St Malachy.
His take was this. He called them the prophecies of Marlarky .He was not disparaging the Saint.Just the prophecies. I didn’t know this but he pointed out they were written after the supposed author’s death. Another thing he pointed out is that the (for lack of a better way of putting it)‘clues’ were so sparse and ambiguous that they could mean almost anything.
Finally,let’s consider this is private revelation. NO Catholic is under any obligation to accept private revelation even approved ones. It may not even be that if what Fr Mitch says is true;that they were not written by St Malachy.Now if the new Pope does pick the name Peter and wears red my ears might perk up.Not so much at the name of Peter. That would not be so extra-ordinary since it’s possible. The red instead of white, which is such a strong tradition, might be another matter. You’re bringing it up is not unusual. It came up at Fr Z’s blog. I’m concerned with the comment re Pope Benedict having chf. That is serious. He seemed to have some knowledge of medical conditions and it seems we may not have Our Holy Father for long after his abdication.

Between the overly provocative title and dictating to the next pope, not one of your better articles.  Sorry.
Ceci: what happens if he doesn’t?

If your sole reason for saying that Popes shouldn’t resign is that subsequent Popes would feel pressure to resign, then I don’t see your point. Such pressure has always existed without a precedent of recently retiring Popes. Venerable Pope Paul VI faced enormous pressure to resign in the 1970’s because everyone wanted a groovier Pope. He successfully resisted the pressure. Please give our Popes some credit.

Posted by Lori Pieper on Friday, Feb 15, 2013 6:33 AM (EST):

“Venerable Pope Paul VI faced enormous pressure to resign in the 1970’s because everyone wanted a groovier Pope. He successfully resisted the pressure…”
********************************
Pope Paul was hugely “un-groovy”, but for the truely important things he was right on the mark.We just didn’t realize it at the time.

The Pope is admirably demonstrating that “even the Pope” must be obedient to God.  The Pope said he made extensive examinations of conscience and prayers before reaching this decision.  My faith is not in man as I think yours appears to be.  My faith is in God.  And by the way, I do believe that the Holy Spirit can be “a magic make everything alright fairy” if it wants too!

Men (and Popes) may come and go, but God is forever.

May God bless you.

I completely agree with you. Two articles in a row. It’s getting scary.

Disagree with this article in the sense that The Holy Spirit might have different intentions for the next pope, which could include leaving before death. We can’t predeterime that the next pope needs to stay until death when we don’t know what God intends. Additionally, although a trend of popes leaving before death could be considered bad for the reasons in this article,  it could also be argued that the centuries-old trend of every single pope staying until death is bad. There could be times when it is better for a pope to step down, and the trend of every pope staying until death could contribute to pressure on a pope to stay even if it’s better to step down.

The most scary thing in this combox discussion is the tendency of so many commentators to declare that whatever a Pope does, even those that have nothing to do with faith and morals, must be inspired by the Holy Spirit and should never, ever be critiqued or even discussed. This is an exaggeration that even the Council Fathers of Vatican One fought hard against, which is why the wording of Pastor Aeternus is so precise. This is an exaggeration that so many Catholic apologists try hard to combat when dealing with Protestant polemics. And yet, here it is…

With all due respect Pat, you ask “Do people actually read the whole post or just stop reading once they see that I say “The pope should die in office?”

Don’t you think that is a litte self-serving of you to ask? Put a controversial headline, then complain because people responded with emotion? Did you yourself not post with emotion?

To your points raised, you do make valid arguments. But so far as the “lame-duck” argument, that implies that there would be a pre-set term limit, which maybe applies to US politics, but certainly not to the Papacy. The health and ability of one does not pre-deterimne the health and ability of the next guy.

The Papacy is the only role in which there isn’t an expected age of retirement. Priests, Bishops and Cardinals all have an age…for good reason. If we don’t expect our priests to continue on because of their health, ability and frailty, why do we expect it of our Pope?

One can only pray that a Pope will last to death, but can we presume to speak about another man’s conscience of obedience to God’s command? Do we dare presume, in perfect disobedience, to demand our will be set on another man, above God’s will?

@enness:  I don’t know enness, you tell me. In 1958 when I was 12 years old, my maternal grandmother a devout Catholic read in a Maryknoll periodical that the world would end in 1960 when the Pope read the 3rd Secret of Fatima was revealed and we’re still here. My mom told me that the end was near right after WWII and we’re still here. According to the New Testament and one of the Gospels of St. Matthew, nobody not even the Son of God, nor the angels in heaven know when the end of the world is, only God himself.  To me, when a person dies, that is their end of the world.  I don’t stress about it anymore and spend whatever time I have on left on this earth enjoying life with my family and friends which is what we all should be doing.  :)

Ceci,
Like you say, our particular end comes when we exit this life.That’s what we need to actually prepare for.
The rest I trust God to take care of.
PS: Maryknoll sure was a whole different publication back in 1958.
God bless!

Ceci

The “prophecy of Malachy” is nonsense.  Belief in such thing is rank superstition. What God wants to happen to our world will happen, in God’s way and in God’s time, for God’s reason

For as long as I recall,Fr. Rutler has always been able to express himself in far better ways then you “quote” him. Unless I see it in context I will ignore the remark.
It is improper for you to give advise to the Holy Father or to the Roman Curia. Your article is not in keeping with the respect owed both to Holy Mother Church and Pope Benedict XV1. Oh,yes,not to mention The Holy Spirit, who may never be discussed.
What good does your opinion do if it serves to create doubt and even a little fear about the Holy Father’s resignation? All that you suppose stands on ” what if’s”. That will be answered in the days ahead and you cannot predict, leaning on Church History.

Lucy,

You state, “The Holy Spirit, who may never be discussed.”  What???  Whose rule is that???

And while I don’t agree with the premise of Pat Archbold’s article, it is certainly proper for him or any RC to give advise to the pope and/or the Curia.  The pope, the members of the Curia, all of us are human beings.  The poe is not divisn, themembers of the Curia are not divine.  Neither the pope nor the members of the Curia are better or different than any of the rest of us.

Authority must always be questioned, must always be held accountable.  That is certainly one of the many, many lessons the RCC and RCs should be learning from the global scandals surrounding the sexual abuse of children by RC priests and the covering up of those crimes by bishops and cardinals (which are also crimes).

I love the Genesis story of Jacob wrestling the angel.  God changes Jacob’s anme to Israel (God-wrestler). We should ever wrestle with God and we certainly wrestle with those who claim to speak for God on earth.

Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger) has been taking serious heat from all forms of media ever since he took over the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (when Pope Paul VI was in office) and as our current Pope.  How many people have ever heard of Joseph Cardinal Levant, who took over CDF from Card. Ratzinger?  Trust in the Holy Trinity cut our Holy Father some slack!

Kathleen and Lisa Kaiser.  I totally agree with both of you that is why I try to live my life the way God wants me to. I’m not really too worried about it I just wanted some input about the St. Malachy Prophecy. I’m saddened that Pope Benedict XVI is resigning due ill health.  He really does look frail and I wish him the very best and will keep him in my prayers. I hope and pray that when the conclave meets to elect a new pope, that they elect a much younger, and healthier pope.  Pope John Paul II was only 58 when he was elected in 1978.  I dearly loved that man and really miss him.

Kathleen, I hope you know that I agree: Paul VI was better than groovy, he was holy. May he pray for us.

I was going to mention Fr Mitch Pacwa’s comment on the Malachy prophecy but i see it was already mentioned. Basically he said they are not authentic.As for the topic about Pope’s abdication and whether he can or not(should or not) must be on everyone’s mind…every blog i visit everyone is discussing it. Perhaps because JPII stayed on we expected this pontificate to be the same. We certainly didn’t expect the announcement from Pope Benedict the XVI. We were stunned. Now we’re heartbroke. We are grieving. We have suffered the loss of 2 Popes in our lifetime now. For some maybe 3 or 4 but these 2 were probably the most personal. The difference between JPII and Pope Benedict is that the loss of Blessed John Paul was probably easier to accept. Pope Benedict is still here. The conclusion is this: The Supreme Pontiff decision to abdicate is one he must make before God with a clear conscience and the decision to stay until death is one that the Supreme Pontiff make make before God with a clear conscience. We can have our opinion-and that’s what it is-but the decision can only be made by the man before God who accepted the Petrine Ministry to begin with.What we ought to be doing now is praying for the CHurch,for Our Holy Father,the Conclave.I have the feeling we would all be ecstatic if he were re-elected but we know he could refuse this time. I have the feeling we all wish we had never heard the announcement but we have. IF this is the decision our dear Holy Father made with a clear conscience then we can thank him for serving,for all that he’s done,support him with our love and prayers. That’s it.Then pray for the conclave.

Dear Catholic by Choice, the Holy Spirit is not an “it”.  He is a He, the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity.  May God bless you.

Based solely on my own thought and media coverage, I would not really know what opinion to have of Pope Benedict’s abdication. My belief that it was the right thing to do is based on the fact that Joseph Ratzinger determined that it was the right thing to do. Of all the commentators out there, none remotely approaches Joseph Ratzinger’s wisdom, experience and judgment especially when it comes to a matter of this nature.

I truly take offense to this article for two reasons:First, Fr. Rutler is quoted and what he said may have been out of context however, it was a negative comment. That is not fair to Father or to the reader.Second,everything was built upon a hypothetical.
The Holy Spirit guides the church and it is a matter of Faith and not to be discussed.
We are flooded with terrible media coverage by the secular press that no one needs to have a"source of authentic Catholic teaching” repeat the performance. I do not care to have articles of opinion, not facts,coming from a source that has questioned my belief in CNS. I won’t subscribe to CNS because there are bigger and better critics already.process56

Ceci, I just want to make it clear that the Holy Spirit is the Third person of the Trinity-co-equal with the Father and Son. As such He is deserving of co-equal glory and adoration.Discussion of the Holy Spirit is discouraged because such discussion may lead someone to blaspheme. If you read in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven”. This is a difficult teaching to understand properly. The Trinity is a mystery. Also you cannot have such disrespect to question the teaching authority of Holy Mother Church in such matters as the resignation of the Pope. That is the reason I disagree with this article. We need not fear the decision the Holy Father has made because we are guided by the Spirit. We are not on any slippery slope.

“Unless the grain of wheat falls in the ground and die… it remains just that… a grain of wheat.”

I can hear the zombie crowds… “Oh, I have a bad back and after much prayer and deliberation, I come to the conclusion that I must abandon my marriage/priesthood/vocation and retire to pray and write books in Miami… good luck kids/wife/parish sayonara!”

Please… say it ain’t so, Benedict!

that’s a gross jump to conclusions Alex

... don’t doubt for a moment that half-baked Christians are not thinking about it… I refuse to believe that in his resignation there is nothing more than just health reasons… in his Lenten speech Benedict hinted at ‘divisions’ and ‘rivalries’ WITHIN the church… I rather think that these internal conflicts must have been ‘factored’ in his decision to immolate himself and take “one for the team” rather than just a capricious whim.  But the secular forces in the World do not care about reasoning, its all about capitalizing on the ‘signs’ given to the flock.

  I have never hear that the Pope although he has a pacemaker like his brother is dying NOW. He just said that he is getting old in age and strength. If he were dying he probably would have not bothered to abdicate he would just stay in the Vatican. He is going into a monastery nearby to pray study and even continue to write. That sounds like old age to me and while he has a pacemaker that does NOT MEAN THAT HE HAS CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE. Also show the sources of your remarks from a reliable authority not just your own opinion. Too many people think their opinions are FACTS. I for one have no problem with him retiring rather than “Dying like a Pope” To me it shows good common sense and remember he is doing this for the good of the whole Church. JPII collapsed in France for not doing this.

Few comments i’d like to reply to all in one comment(bc it’s starting to look like spamming on my part).
The prophecies of Malachy have come up around various blogs. The writings are NOT authentic. They cannot be attributed to St Malachy because they were written long after his death. Fr Mitch Pacwa put the question to rest on Threshold of Hope.
““Oh, I have a bad back and after much prayer and deliberation, I come to the conclusion that I must abandon”
There’s a number of problems with the assertion though we can certainly understand why you would feel that way.
1.  He’s not ABANDONING.We have a thing called succession. 2. there’s more than an issue of a bad back here.  He’s STILL keeping his vows. In marriage we take a vow. In the priesthood and religious they take a vow. He accepted the Papacy when he was elected(he could have refused)-i don’t recall any Pope ever taking a vow that would prevent them from deciding to abdicate.Unfortunatey as we age it’s altogether possible that a married couple will be forced to separate.Sorry. It happens. It does not mean we are not keeping our vows. It’s a reality. That would be my final point-old age has problems of its own that you have to be there or be with someone who has suffered through them to know. He did not come to this decision suddenly. He didn’t sit down last week and decide this-then make the announcement. He went before God with a clear conscience. IMHO part of the problem we are having here is that John Paul II went before God and with a clear conscience he decided to stay on even though he was so incapacitated. Now i think we have come to expect this. Blessed John Paul Ii gave us a great lesson in what he did. Pope Benedict is giving us another and it may take time to understand it fully. I do not fault John Paul II for his decision anymore than i fault Pope Benedict for his. If they both went before God with a clear conscience in charity i must take their word for it.

I am the assistant chaplain at Christendom College. I am ashamed to have Pat Archbold as a fellow Catholic. His article showed a frightening lack of human and spiritual sensitivity to objective reality and instead presented us a mind focused on a merely abstract and trophy ideal of the Church only understood in relation to self. A perfect example of relativism. How could you put an article into circulation with such a title? How can you measure your opinion against the action of the Holy Father and believe yourself to be justified? May God bring you to a new life and a new mind this Lenten season.

Fr. Mark Byrne,
Father, you are the one who should be ashamed.  Your comment amounts to nothing more than a shameful ad hominem attack.  Further, your suggestion that I put my ‘opinion against the action of the Holy Father,’ is patently false.  My article is a suggestion to a future pontiff about the dangers presented by the ‘trend’ of resignation.  Perhaps the time you spent getting on your high horse would have been better spent reading what I actually wrote.

If you do not agree with me, have the courage and the intellect to suggest where I am wrong.  Your comment says more about you than it does me.

  Lets posit a scenario….  The Holy Father was granted a vision, a clear message that the church was in great danger and he must take a series of steps, the first of which is to renounce his powers. I simply ASSUME that there is MORE to this event than you or I can possibly know. I don’t know, you don’t know.  I DO know that someone couldn’t make it to the soup kitchen today and they urgently need a dishwasher though I’d rather sit at home and browse Catholic blogs about the Pope resigning.

Popes have resigned before (the last 600 years ago) when you are dealing with an organization as old as Christ’s church. Nothing should suprise and you should not be saying silly things like ‘the pope must die in office’.
Did you actually like watching JPII melting away like a puddle? Not being able to speak? You think that was really necessary? Of course it wasn’t!JPII had written a letter that if he got infirmed to call a conclave. But of course people thought they knew better than him and it wasn’t done.

But Benedict saw exactly what they did to JPII, right now he is in charge of his mind and body competely. He had the right to resign and I very happy for him. We might need a younger man at the helm when a crisis happens.  Benedict is totally smart, God Bless him, he took the leadership position for 8 long years when he could have been playing piano and writing more books.  He is a man of great humility and he will write more books, I hope, in the years to come. This leadership position he is stepping down from is not for the faint of heart nor the infirmed.
And that is where we differ, Mr Archbold!

Shirley Schultz,

God has no sex/gender God is beyond such things.  And besides, all human are made in the image of God—so perhaps God is both male and female—if indeed God has any sex/gender.  So God is not a “he”.  That is just too narrow for the Ruler of the Universe.  When Moses encounters God at the burning Bush and Moses wants God to give Moses God’s name, the translation often given in the Bible is not quite correct.  The Hebrew is often translated as I AM WHO AM.  That is not quite correct.  The correct translation of the Hebrew is:  I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE.

Popes are human beings like all of us. At a certain age their capacity, physical and mental, is restricted. The Holy Spirit acts through humans according to their age and certainly it would be an act of obedience to His plans if we respect his program and at a certain point recognize that other people can do it better.

Just because it is obvious, just because the next pope would see this danger, dosent mean he wont resign. Maybe he will belive his sucessor will prevent it from becoming precident. Maybe he will face terrible situations that he knows cant be remedied by him, but could be by most other viable canadaties for the papacy. Or maybe he will be scared. Maybe his will missunderstand the holyspirits will, since this is a prudential matter and not a moral one. Maybe, maybe, maybe. But im not scared. Not because i dont thinl those things will happen, which i dont, know the gates of hell wont prevail. I will be scared of the disaster when it comes, thank you very much, and work NOW as camly as possible to see it comes no time soon.

Pat Sarver, wow.  What you said!

Oh, Fr. Mark.  That comment made me blush for you.  Kind of tacky, don’t you think? :s