Pope Benedict Resigning

[BG45]

:P Oh dear. Yeah, that will not win him any supporters among Benedict's cardinals. Maybe he will get a couple dozen votes in the first ballot, then disappear.

But yeah, that rubbed me all the wrong ways.

 

I'm glad it wasn't just me feeling offput by it.  And with all due respect to Cardinal Turkson, he's no Cardinal Arinze. 

[Nihil Obstat]

I'm glad it wasn't just me feeling offput by it. And with all due respect to Cardinal Turkson, he's no Cardinal Arinze.

To be fair though, I was already pretty disinclined to like him after that white paper some months ago.

[GeorgiiMichael]

If I get a phone call from the Cardinals a few days after conclave starts, I'm going to choose "Batman" as my papal name.

 

Pope Batman, it'll be awesome.

[Aloysius]

you should declare yourself Pope Batman II, and just insist that you found some ancient text that confirms that there was a previous pope batman but you lost it.

[Apotheoun]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/9866227/Pope-resigns-Peter-Turkson-reveals-vision-for-the-Church-and-alternative-lifestyles.html

 

The parts they use, at least, sound so blatantly like political stumping...

From the article:  "The cardinal who could become the first black pope said Tuesday that the Roman Catholic Church faces grave challenges in remaining relevant in the modern world . . ."

 

As soon as I saw the word "relevant" in the article I thought of the video below:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDNpscDSqpU

[homeschoolmom]

If I get a phone call from the Cardinals a few days after conclave starts, I'm going to choose "Batman" as my papal name.

 

Pope Batman, it'll be awesome.

Wouldn't they just shine a signal of some sort in the sky??

[Brother Adam]

Here's Pope Benedict's schedule for the remainder of his Papacy:


On Thursday, Pope Benedict will meet in Paul VI Hall with the clergy of
the Diocese of Rome and reflect on the Second Vatican Council.


Three politicians will have the chance to meet with the Pope before he
leaves office. The president of Romania will be received on Feb. 15,
while Guatemala's president and the Italian Senator Mario Monti will be
granted audiences on Feb. 16.


Two groups of bishops from Italy - one from Liguria and the other from
Lombardi - will have a chance to talk with Pope Benedict as part of
their "ad limina" visit that happens every five years. Their audiences
will be on the 15th and 16th, respectively.

As he does every
Lent, the Holy Father will participate in a week of spiritual exercises,
which will begin on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. This year the reflections for the
retreat will be offered by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the head of the
Pontifical Council for Culture.

The spiritual exercises will end on Feb. 23 and the Pope will deliver a short speech at that time.

As he heads into his final days as Pope, Benedict XVI will offer his final Sunday Angelus reflection on Feb. 24.

On Monday, Feb. 25 he will grant private hearings to some cardinals.


His final public appearance will be the general audience on Feb. 27,
which was originally planned for Paul VI Hall, but is being moved to St.
Peter's Square because of the large number of people expected.


On his last day as pontiff, Pope Benedict will be greeted by cardinals
at 11:00 a.m. and then at 5:00 p.m. he will quietly move to Castel
Gandolfo.

At 8:00 p.m. on Feb. 28 the See of Peter will
officially become vacant. Preparations for the conclave of cardinals to
elect his successor will being on March 1.

[BG45]

To be fair though, I was already pretty disinclined to like him after that white paper some months ago.

 

I kinda was as well...but still.  Oh well, I have faith in the Conclave and the Holy Spirit, any way things go.

 

you should declare yourself Pope Batman II, and just insist that you found some ancient text that confirms that there was a previous pope batman but you lost it.

 

Words cannot describe how awesome this is.

From the article:  "The cardinal who could become the first black pope said Tuesday that the Roman Catholic Church faces grave challenges in remaining relevant in the modern world . . ."

 

As soon as I saw the word "relevant" in the article I thought of the video below:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDNpscDSqpU

...I didn't think of that video, but now I will.  That does describe the last two non-Catholic churches I attended quite well.

 

Brother Adam, holy cow that's still quite the schedule for His Holiness.

[LouisvilleFan]

the Holy Spirit doesn't directly pick the pope, we have had bad popes in the past, horrid sinful popes, in fact.

 

If your logic is true, how did Jesus pick Judas?

[Aloysius]

I'm not sure I understand the question... he picked the 12 Apostles for who they were, He foreknew that Judas would betray Him but He did not desire it, there was good in Judas, Judas could have been a good and holy Apostle (Jesus would have been betrayed by man some way or another, for the sinful flesh lashes out against the incarnate God)... but in Conclaves, a very human process is at work.  Jesus is not directly picking the Pope as he did with his 12 Apostles, the college of cardinals is picking him.  certainly the Will of God is done in all things, but some popes ascended to the Throne of St. Peter by the will of God about as much as Hurricanes hit cities by the will of God, it's His passive will and He'll draw straight with crooked lines. 

 

if someone really wants to believe the Pope is directly chosen by the Holy Spirit, that's their prerogative I suppose, I personally see  the process in much more human terms, but as in all things providence is at work.  it's the leap to suggesting the Holy Spirit is directly guiding the cardinals towards one choice or the other that I generally disagree with, I don't believe it works that way.

[Nihil Obstat]

if someone really wants to believe the Pope is directly chosen by the Holy Spirit, that's their prerogative I suppose, I personally see  the process in much more human terms, but as in all things providence is at work.  it's the leap to suggesting the Holy Spirit is directly guiding the cardinals towards one choice or the other that I generally disagree with, I don't believe it works that way.

It would be perhaps not impossible, but somewhat tricky to reconcile demonstrably poor popes with the concept of each pope being selected by a literal positive act of God.

[OnlySunshine]

Wouldn't they just shine a signal of some sort in the sky??

 

[PhuturePriest]

"When
the history of Benedict XVI's papacy is written, we may well shake our
heads in awe and amazement as to how such a frail and elderly man could
have undertaken the massive burden of steering Peter's barque in such
turbulent times, and with such wisdom and equanimity.

Here's what he recounted one week after being elected Pope:


“As the trend in the ballots slowly made me realize that - in a manner
of speaking - the guillotine would fall on me, I started to feel quite
dizzy. I thought that I had done my life's work and could now hope to
live out my days in peace. I told the Lord with deep conviction, 'Don't
do this to me. You have younger and better candidates, who could take up
this great task with a totally different energy and strength.'
Evidently, this time He didn't listen to me.” [To a group of German
pilgrims]

In September 1991,
he'd suffered a hemorrhagic stroke that impaired his eyesight
temporarily. This was not made public (the official news was that he
fell and struck his head against a radiator). This was known to the
Conclave that elected him Pope.

In 1997, when he turned 70,
Ratzinger asked Pope John Paul II for permission to leave the
Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, but the Pope refused.

In
May 2005 (one month after becoming Pope) the Vatican reported that he
had suffered another mild stroke. Cardinal Barbarin said that since the
first stroke Ratzinger had been suffering from an age-related heart
condition, for which he was on medication.

After announcing his
resignation this week, it was revealed that Benedict had been fitted
with a pacemaker while still a Cardinal, before his election in 2005.


There's no way that we can ever repay the immense debt of gratitude
that we owe this extraordinarily good, brave and faithful servant of the
Church. But his Master surely will."

(courtesy of Frank Christopher)

[bernadette d]

With reference to a few comments back....................could it perhaps be that on the occasions when there have been bad Popes we, "The Faithful" have not prayed enough/in the right way?  Just a thought.

[DemonSlayer]

Perhaps some of the "bad popes" were also elected by mainly "bad cardinals" or cardinals who didn't allow the Holy Spirit to guide them.