I am no fan of institutionalised churchdom. I accept it but at the edge of Christianity, as a means to an end but not the core. I am also a Protestant at heart (mainly Presby-Methodist, but worked as an Anglican pastor for five years) although two of my three sons attended a Catholic high school. I have many friends who are Catholic and believe the Roman Catholic Church has done tremendous good as well as tremendous evil. It is just one hue of a diverse, wide and multi-cultural true Church of Jesus Christ in the earth full of unwhole and fallable human beings.
I have also criticised the Pope in the past (Should the Pope make “Saints”?) but am no enemy of the Vatican or the Holy See. Which leads us to Pope Benedict.
Why is he really going? There are two main theories:
- The cynical view, that he is caught up in an undisclosed scandal and has to resign.
- That he is genuine and wants a fitter broom to come in and sweep corruption clean.
Theory one has credence because he is the first pope in a gazillion years to actually abdicate (let’s admit the Papacy is a monarchy, albeit elected). The only other Pope to go, in 1415 (Gregory VII), went in a negotiated deal to resolve a long-running schism of two popes in Europe and to end war.
The second theory, which I favour, is that Pope Benedict XVI is a genuinely religious Christian, as was everyone’s favourite Pope John Paul II, and realises after his recent undisclosed fall, that he is now failing in energy and health. His doctors have also counselled him not fly long distances.
Confronted recently with a 300 page deep probe of the Vatican that has exposed corruption and immorality, it was the last straw. He chose that day to step aside as an emeritus, and create space for a younger more vigorous POpe to take the throne and begin a widespread sweep of immorality and corruption in the Vatican. The generous view, is that he wants to do this for the benefit of the wider church and is sacrificing personal power to achieve it.
The real truth is probably closer to the middle with complexities on both sides. Benedict will not relinquish all power; as a resident living Pope he will hold enormous sway (see Howard Chua-Eoan’s article “Second Act” in the Feb 25 TIME). He is probably connected personally with a number of bad eggs and some may have been appointed by him to positions of responsibility. He will view this as a personal failure, and once details are exposed, this would undermine his Papcy and spiritual credibility. Better to fall on his sword, as a pope who has come up through the bureaucracy, but support a less tarnished or associated pope, who can attack the rot.
So, I take a generous view, open to the possibility he is mired more than we now know. Time (and perhaps TIME) will tell.
Italian media reports state, “Pope Benedict XVI resigned after an internal investigation informed him about a web of blackmail, corruption and gay sex in the Vatican,
Three cardinals were asked by Benedict to verify allegations of financial impropriety, cronyism and corruption exposed in the so-called VatiLeaks affair.
“On December 17, 2012, they handed the pontiff two red-leather bound volumes…an exact map of the mischief and the bad fish inside the Holy See” according to La Repubblica.
La Repubblica quoted a man described as “very close” to the authors as saying the information it contained was “all about the breach of the sixth and seven commandments” – which say “thou shalt not commit adultery” and “thou shalt not steal”.
The cardinals were said to have uncovered an underground gay network, whose members organise sexual meetings in several venues in Rome and Vatican City, leaving them prone to blackmail.
The secret report also delves into suspect dealings at the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), the Vatican’s bank, where a new chairman was appointed last week after a nine-month vacancy, La Repubblica said, without going into details.
The newspaper said Benedict would personally hand the confidential files to his successor, with the hope he will be “strong, young and holy” enough to take the necessary action.
So, homosexual corruption and financial corruption.
I somewhat doubt benedict is a naive in this respect. He is a Poemwho came up through the powerful administration and bureaucray of the RCC and must have know of this kind of thing. It is inconceovable he would not have been aware of bad behaviour, but its extent may have ben a shock and provoked his devision; effectively a lancing of a boil and a desire for this stain to be addressed at the highest level – by a new Pope.
I wish the red cardinals well in March as they elect a new pope who I hope will expose, lance, and then cauterise the festering boils on the backside of the Roman Catholic Church, so it can return to a role of moral leadership in this incongruent and inconsistent world of ours.
He will view this as a personal failure,..
As a man his failure is inevitable.
God’s real and intimate representative on earth didn’t fail and this man, while he may be a Christian like so many others, is on a theological pedestal that should never have ever been erected. His salvation depends on the same saviour as mine and like me, he cannot rely on anything else.
There have been a few abdications, though the one that you mention was the last. Prior, there was Pope St. Celestine who abdicated in 1294. Wikipedia even has a list of all the popes who abdicated or were deposed: Papal resignations.
He’s 85 frail and sick. We’ve all seen and known people at those sorts of ages, they are going fine, and then something happens (often a fall) and suddenly they are a shadow of their former self, no longer able to care for them self, eking out their last months or years. He’s probably watched that exact thing happen with previous popes who were good to a point but in their last years achieved little and people were just waiting for them to die. I think in that position I would rather step down than carry on to the bitter end, perhaps undoing the good work I had previously done (through inaction if nothing else). To my mind that’s the simplest and most reasonable explanation, The rest just seems to be wild speculation (the number of differing theories being an indication). I’m waiting for some actual evidence that there is something more before I’m going to give it any credence.