Pope
Benedict XVI to resign, first pontiff to quit since Middle Ages
In a statement released by the Catholic Church, Benedict VXI said that “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.”
A reproduction picture shows Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in front of Petersdome in Rome, 1996 (Reuters / KNA-Bild)
Pope Benedict XVI posts his first tweet using an iPad tablet after his Wednesday general audience in Paul VI's Hall at the Vatican December 12, 2012 (Reuters / Giampiero Sposito)
Pope Benedict XVI sits during a mass in Santiago de Cuba on March 26, 2012 (AFP Photo / Osservatore Romano)
RT,
11
February, 2013
Pope
Benedict XVI is to resign for reasons relating to his health,
according to a Vatican spokesperson. He's the first head of the
Catholic Church to quit the highest post since the Middle Ages.
The
85-year-old is due to step down on February 28. The Pope said he
is “fully
aware of the gravity of this gesture” but
that he lacks the strength to govern Church due to age, according to
Vatican's spokesperson Federico Lombardi.
In a statement released by the Catholic Church, Benedict VXI said that “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.”
A reproduction picture shows Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in front of Petersdome in Rome, 1996 (Reuters / KNA-Bild)
A
Vatican official says they expect the period between Benedict's
resignation and the election of a successor to be “as
brief as possible,” according
to Reuters news agency. However, his resignation means that the
Papacy will be vacant until a successor is chosen.
A
Vatican spokesman said that the Pope "took
us by surprise",
suggesting that even his closest aides had not previously been
informed of the decision. One said that he was left "incredulous" by
the Pope's news. However, the Pope's brother, Georg Ratzinger, said
that Benedict had been encountering increasing difficulty walking,
and his resignation was part of a "natural
process," meaning he
had been contemplating stepping down for months. The Pope may want to
avoid an exhausting rush of Easter engagements by resigning early in
the year.
A
conclave of cardinals will meet in March 2013, to elect a new pope
after his departure.The Pope will not participate in the election of
his successor.
In
2010, the 265th Pope said that he would not hesitate to become the
first pontiff to retire willingly from his position in more than 700
years, if he felt unable, “physically,
psychologically and spiritually” to
run the Catholic Church any longer.
Georg
Ratzinger said that the Pope's doctor had recently told him not to
make transatlantic trips for health reasons. However, his resignation
is not due to any specific illness, according to a spokesperson.
Following his departure, he will voyage to a Papal summer residence
near Rome, and will then move in to a cloistered residence in the
Vatican.
The
last time a pope resigned was in 1415.Back then Pope Gregory XII
pronounced the resignation, which the cardinals accepted. However,
the last time a Pope resigned voluntarily, was Celestine V in 1294.
Pope
Benedict XVI has been in office since19 April 2005, meaning that he
was elected at the age of 78.
Since
his assumption of the title, he has been embroiled in the ‘Vatileaks’
scandal, in which his former butler was accused of stealing
confidential information, and leaking it to journalists. The leaked
data, which surfaced in January 2012, contained detailed exposes of
the institution, revealing the power struggles, factional fighting
and personal finances of the Papacy.
The
reports also described competing churchmen initiating homosexual
smear campaigns against each other and revealed a number of blocked
reforms geared towards the transformation of the Vatican Bank – an
institution already infamous for its lack of transparency.
Pope Benedict XVI posts his first tweet using an iPad tablet after his Wednesday general audience in Paul VI's Hall at the Vatican December 12, 2012 (Reuters / Giampiero Sposito)
The
Pope emerged from the scandal as frail, indecisive, and remote, and
concerned only with the spiritual side of affairs while blind to
earthly misdemeanors around him. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone – the
Vatican’s administrative head – emerged as a figure gaining
increasing power as Benedict’s health weakened.
“In
the last few months there was much talk about wars inside the Vatican
about the future. They said that the Secretary of State Bertone was
going to step down, but he did not. The pope did! This was the
biggest surprise. Everybody was expecting for some of the
administration, of the government, let’s say, of the church, to be
changed… Nobody expected the pope to step down,” journalist
Franco Oliva told RT.
Paolo
Gabriele, the butler involved, said that he "was sure that a
shock, perhaps by using the media, could be a healthy thing to bring
the Church back on the right track," going on to explain his
feelings that the pope was not adequately informed of problems the
letters outlined.
Benedict
has reportedly been critical of his predecessor, John Paul II, for
remaining in the position as he became too old and incapable to fully
cope with its demands.
Israel’s
chief Rabbi has praised the Pope's inter-religious outreach, and has
wished him good health, according to a spokesman. Italian Prime
Minister Mario Monti, has also said, "I'm
greatly shaken by this unexpected news," according
to the Italian newspaper La Stampa's website.
The
German chancellor, Angela Merkel, also responded to the new, on
account of the Pope’s German roots. She said that if the Pope feels
he is too weak to carry out his duties, his wishes "must
be respected."
Benedict
is the sixth German to serve as Pope, and the first since the 11th
century.
The
Pope was enlisted in Germany's Hitler Youth at the age of 14, as
required by the state, and was briefly held as a prisoner-of-war by
the Allies in 1945.
Papal
controversy erupted in 2009, when he lifted the excommunication of
four bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X. One was a
Holocaust-denier, Richard Williamson, from Britain.
The
Vatican said Benedict had been unaware of Williamson's views when he
acted.
Pope Benedict XVI sits during a mass in Santiago de Cuba on March 26, 2012 (AFP Photo / Osservatore Romano)
Pope of the digital age
Elected
on this post in 2005 upon the death of Pope John Paul II, 78-year-old
former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became one of the oldest new popes
in history.
Born
in 1927, in Bavaria, he was the son of a police officer. Joseph
Ratzinger was ordained in 1951, at age 24.
Pope
Benedict strongly opposes homosexuality, the ordination of women
priests and stem cell research, which earned him the nickname "God's
Rotweiler".
Pope
Benedict XVI is seen as a religious conservative in line with his
predecessor’s policies.
During
his Papacy, Benedict XVI was actively involved in social media. He is
online everywhere these days — from tweets on his @Pontifex
account to daily YouTube videos to a new app dubbed 'The
Pope App', launched just recently.
The
five-star application received extremely positive reviews from those
who downloaded it.
Pope
Benedict XVI entered history as the first head of the Roman Catholic
Church to join the Twitter microblogging website in December 2012.
World’s oldest electoral tradition
Popes
are elected by a conclave of the entire body of Catholic cardinals.
Since 1274 the officials are sequestered and not permitted to leave
until the new Pope is elected, a rule aimed at preventing the Holy
See from being left unoccupied for a long period of time. Papal
conclaves are now held in the Sistine Chapel.
A
candidate must be under 80 years old on the day the Holy See becomes
vacant and must win the support of two-thirds of the College of
Cardinals, consisting of up to 120 clergymen. Dozens of ballots may
be cast over the day, if the electors cannot come to an agreement.
The
results of election rounds held on a given day are announced to the
people assembled in St. Peter’s Square, when the ballots are
burned. Black smoke indicates that the election failed to produce a
result, while white smoke signals that a new pope has been chosen.
It
is customary for a pope to select a new name. The tradition stretches
back to the time before succession of the Holy See was
institutionalized. Pope John II, who became the leader of the
Catholic Church in 533, felt that his given name Mercurius, honoring
the Roman god, was inappropriate for his position, so he had it
changed.
The
procedure for selection of a new Pope was first formalized in 1059,
which makes it the oldest method of choosing a leader of an
institution still in use. The rules evolved, however, with details
refined over the centuries.
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