Talk of Papal Resignation ‘Should Be Silenced’

L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO, Feb. 2—A high-ranking Vatican official called for an end to the debate on papal resignation in the pages of the Vatican newspaper.

Archbishop Agostino Marchetto of the Vatican Secretariat of State wrote, “all this buzz on the subject should be silenced.”

The article was not directly related to recent comments about the Pope's health by German Bishop Karl Lehman of Mainz. Rather, Archbishop Marchetto was responding to three recent articles by Italian history professor Alberto Melloni.

The archbishop referred at length to a Jan. 29 opinion piece by Melloni in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in which Melloni said that while Pope John Paul was perfectly fit to continue as leader of the Church, “there will come a day when he or one of his successors will feel unfit.”

In response to Melloni's point that bishops generally resign at age 75, Archbishop Marchetto said such an argument “means losing the sense of the unique position of the bishop of Rome in the Catholic Church.” The last pope to step down of his own accord was St. Celestine V in 1294.

Baptists Applaud Pope's Holy Year Zeal

AVVENIRE, Jan. 27—The secretary-general of the World Baptist Alliance is grateful to the Holy Father for reminding the world of the true meaning of the millennium, the Italian paper reported.

The comments came at the Alliance's 18th World Congress in Melbourne, Australia in mid-January.

The World Baptist Alliance was established in England in 1905, but its headquarters was moved to the United States in the 1940s. The 18th World Congress in Melbourne celebrated the change of the millennium on the theme: “Jesus Christ Forever, Yes!”

Alliance Secretary-General Denton Lotz described the Baptist Catholic dialogue as “very good. We have constant contacts and we have met on several occasions with [Vatican ecumenical officials] as well. The exchange of ideas is really open.”

Lotz said he especially appreciated the symbolism of the opening of the Holy Door. “We are happy with all these celebrations that underline our unity in Christ. The secular world has forgotten the meaning of 2000.

“Many don’t even realize that it marks the anniversary of Jesus' birth. I was unable to go to the ceremony in St. Paul's Basilica because I was still in Australia.

To tell the truth, though, we Baptists have problems with the idea of indulgences. Nonetheless, we are grateful for all the celebrations that attempt to restore the millennium's real meaning.”