VATICAN CITY — The decision, delivered in Latin and in unemotional tones by Pope Benedict XVI to a gathering of cardinals on Monday, came “like a bolt out of the blue,”? one of the participants said, and it soon ricocheted around the world.
During what was supposed to be a routine meeting to discuss the canonization of three potential saints, Benedict read a statement that said, in part, that after examining his 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 leading the world’s one billion Roman Catholics. He was resigning on Feb. 28, he said, becoming the first pope to do so in six centuries.
“In today’s world,”? Benedict said in his announcement, “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 St. 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 recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”?
Within minutes, #Pontifexit was trending on Twitter. Later, during an evening thunderstorm, a lightning bolt struck the dome of St. Peter’s, though the meaning, if any, was not immediately clear.
It's impressive to see someone voluntarily walk away from power. The world needs more of that.
OTOH, if I was the head of the organization that facilitated and then covered up what is surely the largest child sex abuse ring in history, I might also like the idea of spending my remaining time on earth doing something else.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 18:6 about the treatment of children: "If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." What conclusion can we draw from that statement when we look at the actions of the current Catholic church leadership and their systematic coverup of the worst kind of child abuse? The closer I look at it, the more disgusting it is.
Maybe the next pope will do some kind of real truth and reconciliation effort so that the world can see that the church is truly committed to no longer being the favored career path for pedophile sexual predators. A good starting point might be to discard the ridiculous idea that a large group of men can be expected to be celibate their whole lives without certain instinctive desires manifesting from time to time in deviant ways.
As much as the office of the pope tries to make him out to simply be the guy with the hotline to God, both Pope Benedict and his predecessor remind me very much of other monarchs through history whose authority is based upon supposed divine authority, but the reality of their reigns look much more like a decidedly secular effort to accumulate, maintain and wield worldly power as effectively as possible.
Thomas Paine said it this way: "Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived."
Q: “Do you have funny shaped balloons?”
A: “Not unless round is funny.”
MediumTex wrote:
It's impressive to see someone voluntarily walk away from power. The world needs more of that.
...
Maybe the next pope will do some kind of real truth and reconciliation effort so that the world can see that the church is truly committed to no longer being the favored career path for pedophile sexual predators.
...
I think Margaret Carlson said it well.
We should be grateful that he realizes his body is failing him -- most people in power do not -- and is abdicating. But let’s not forget that it was Benedict who stood mostly mute as the sexual abuse of children by priests continued.
Benedict had a chance to be a great pope in one way and one way only: by recognizing the evil and dealing with it even when it meant punishing powerful prelates. He did not.
He had an opportunity to do so when he was appointed in 1981...
MediumTex wrote:
It's impressive to see someone voluntarily walk away from power. The world needs more of that.
...
Maybe the next pope will do some kind of real truth and reconciliation effort so that the world can see that the church is truly committed to no longer being the favored career path for pedophile sexual predators.
...
I think Margaret Carlson said it well.
We should be grateful that he realizes his body is failing him -- most people in power do not -- and is abdicating. But let’s not forget that it was Benedict who stood mostly mute as the sexual abuse of children by priests continued.
Benedict had a chance to be a great pope in one way and one way only: by recognizing the evil and dealing with it even when it meant punishing powerful prelates. He did not.
He had an opportunity to do so when he was appointed in 1981...
I can see Pope Benedict getting to heaven and having the following discussion with God.
Pope Benedict: "So, how did I do?"
God: "Well, let's see, you didn't dig up and defile the body of your predecessor and throw his carcass in the river like Pope Stephen VI did.
You didn't sleep around and pay off your mistresses with church property and wind up being killed by a man who caught you in bed with his wife like Pope John XII did.
You didn't issue any edicts authorizing the brutal torture of supposed 'heretics' like Pope Innocent IV did.
You never complained that the screaming wasn't loud enough from the torture of your political enemies within the church like Pope Urban VI did.
You DID, however, sit by and rather than doing something about children being sexually abused by priests when you were a senior church leader you essentially participated in the effort to cover up the abuse in order to protect the church's reputation and financial position.
Overall, I would put you about in the middle of the Pope pack."
Q: “Do you have funny shaped balloons?”
A: “Not unless round is funny.”
