Bishops pay their tributes as Pope Benedict stands down

POPE BENEDICT XVI caused shock and surprise by announcing his resignation at a consistory of Cardinals on Monday morning.

The Pope said that his strength in mind and body ‘had deteriorated to the extent that I have recognised my incapacity to fulfil the ministry entrusted to me’. He will cease to be Pope on February 28.

Vatican spokesman Fr Frederico Lombardi said a new Pope should be chosen in time for Easter. There will be no English Cardinal present at the consistory to elect the new Cardinal because Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor is now over 80.

Pope Benedict will live in a monastery that formerly belonged to an enclosed order of nuns in the Vatican. He will take no part in the election of his successor.

Fr Lombardi said there was no specific illness that had compelled the Pope to resign but it has been apparent over the past year that the Pope was having increasing difficulty in walking, requiring help to go up and down steps and making use of a cane. Reports said that his doctor has advised against trans-Atlantic airline journeys.

The last Pope to resign was Gregory XII who made the move to bring an end to the Western Schism and clear the way of the election of a successor in 1417. In 1989 and 1994 John Paul II secretly prepared letters offering the College of Cardinals his resignation in case of an incurable disease or other condition that would prevent him fulfilling his ministry.

Roman Catholic canon law provides for the resignation of a pope and one scholar estimates the total number who may have resigned as possibly 10 but the historical evidence is limited.

Interviewed by a German journalist for the book ‘Light of the World’, Pope Benedict said a Pope could have the obligation to resign if ‘he is no longer physically, psychologically, and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office’. But he did not favour resignation just because the burden of office was too great.

In a statement on the Pope’s resignation, Archbishop Justin Welby said: “It was with a heavy heart but complete understanding that we learned this morning of Pope Benedict’s declaration of his decision to lay down the burden of ministry as Bishop of Rome, an office which he has held with great dignity, insight and courage.

“As I prepare to take up office I speak out not only for myself and my predecessors as Archbishop, but for Anglicans around the world, in giving thanks to God for a priestly life utterly dedicated in word and deed, in prayer and costly service, to following Christ. He has laid before us something of the meaning of the Petrine ministry of build- ing up the people of God to full maturity.

“In his visit to the UK, Pope Benedict showed us all something of what the vocation of the See of Rome can mean in practice – a witness to the universal scope of the gospel and a messenger of hope at a time when the Christian faith is being called into question. In his teaching and writing he has brought a remarkable and creative theolog- ical mind to bear on the issues of the day. We who belong to other Christian families gladly acknowledge the importance of this witness and join with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in thanking God for the inspiration of Pope Benedict’s ministry.”

Archbishop John Sentamu said that with the Pope’s resignation ‘the Christian world will miss a great theologian with great spiritual depth’.

He went on to say: “We should remember Pope Benedict communicated the revelation of God in a characteristic way as a true successor of St Peter. He was unafraid to proclaim the Gospel and challenge a culture that is so self-referential, managing to life our eyes to God’s glory.”

A noted theologian, Pope Benedict recently published the third and final volume of his work on the life of Jesus. He has written encyclicals on Love and Hope and a third encyclical on Faith may yet appear.

Although there was little progress in ecumenical relations with Anglicans during his pontificate, he enjoyed a warm, personal relationship with Archbishop Rowan Williams. Observers say that when they met, there was little need for formalities as the two plunged into lively theological discussion.

The Pope also showed himself an admirer of Anglican liturgy and music. During his visit to Britain he attended Evensong in Westminster Abbey and asked for CDs of the music. The Abbey choir was later invited to sing in Rome in St Peter’s Cathedral. Many think that his controversial decision to establish an Anglican Ordinariate was inspired by his admiration for high Anglican liturgical traditions.

In his own Church, the Pope made an equally controversial decision to allow use of the ‘Extraordinary Rite’, the form of mass celebrated before Vatican II.

He made repeated efforts to reach out to the Society of Pius X, made up of those who rejected the reforms of Vatican II, but without success.

Although Pope Benedict was criticised for the handing of sex abuse in the Catholic Church, a number of close observers of the Vatican say that it was John Paul II who was reluctant to act against such notorious offenders as Marcial Maciel. Under Benedict, the scandalous Mexican priest was removed from office and other steps were taken to improve procedures for dealing with abuse.

Benedict was not afraid of controversy and sometimes he proved lacking in skill at handling the media. Perhaps his most controversial act of Pope was to make critical remarks of Islam in his Regensberg address. But he sought to make amends on a visit to a Turkish mosque and his papacy saw the launch of an important dialogue between Catholics and Muslims.