A Pope Resigns
11/02/13 04:59
The banner “breaking news” story on the BBC this morning is headlined, “Pope Benedict XVI is to resign.” As I write, there are no details available except that the BBC is reporting that the Vatican has confirmed the news. No reasons for the surprise announcement have been given.
Maybe by the time you are reading this, the news will be out and details will have become clear, but in the wee hours of Mountain Standard Time there doesn’t seem to be much information available. There is nothing about the resignation on the Vatican official English-language site yet. In a note to the times, the Vatican Holy See website is available in Chinese, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. You can also still read in Latin if you are a stickler for the traditional. It is not a place to go for more information about rumors. If the Pope has made the official announcement, it most certainly would have been delivered in Latin.
There have been a lot of rumors about the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI since he was elevated in 2005. He probably is not the most popular of popes and at the age of 78 was one of the oldest to ascend to the position, though since popes generally serve for life, many have lived to be older than he once ascending to the position. On April Fool’s Day, 2011, an Internet rumor over the resignation initially appeared to be credible.
This time, however, it is not a false rumor. In the time it took me to write the opening paragraphs of this blog, the BBC has posted a link to the live press conference and the news has been confirmed. “Both strength of mind and body are necessary. Strength has deteriorated. I have recognized my incapacity . . .” It appears that ill health is the reason for the resignation. The official date for the resignation will be February 28, 2013. The Vatican has announced that there will be a speedy process to elect a successor and it is anticipated that the Cardinals, who are currently in a meeting at the Vatican will move swiftly to discern who will be the next leader of the Roman Church.
It is a new experience for the church. In modern times, no pope has resigned. The Code of Canon Law makes it possible for a Pope to resign, but it has been at least 600 years since a Pope has resigned. Pope Gregory XII resigned to end the Western Schism, which had reached the point where there were three claimants to the Papal throne. The story is that in 1045 Pope Benedict IX’s resignation was for financial advantage. His successor, Pope Gregory VI was seen as a reformer who ridded the church of the scandals of Benedict IX.
The modern Benedict has presided over a church filled with scandal, though not of his own making. It seems that almost every day brings more detail of sex abuse cases that have spanned decades and that in some cases church officials sought to hide from public knowledge. Cases in Canada, the United States, and Europe have made headlines with victims as young as 3. Church officials have been accused of fraud and misleading victims by deliberately relocating priests accused of abuse instead of removing them from their positions. Certainly the scandal has consumed a significant portion of the Pope’s attention during his papacy.
Before ascending to the Papacy, Benedict XVI was known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and it was said that he advised Pope John Paul II to resign as his health failed. John Paul II was the second-longest serving Pope in history. He was very popular and, if it is true that he was advised to resign, he did not take that advice. He served until his death early in April of 2005.
As a minister of the United Church of Christ serving in South Dakota, I don’t have any direct ties to the Pope. He is unaware of our church and its ministries. But despite centuries of disagreements with the Roman Church, we are all bound in a common faith. Despite our differences, there is more that we share in common than the things that divide us. So I do pay attention to the leadership of the Roman Church. I do take seriously the teachings of our Catholic brothers and sisters, though in their tradition the leadership of women is often not recognized. It is one of the differences that divide us.
I will not be consulted on who should be the next leader of the worlds millions of Roman Catholic Christians. Nor should I be. The process is already in motion. But I will pray that the new leader, when chosen, will be able to act for the future and health of the church. It will be a struggle and a challenge. Institutions do not change quickly and the Roman Church is bound in tradition and weighed down by its institutional structures. The Roman Catholic view is that Jesus Christ handed over leadership of the church to St. Peter who is viewed as the first head of the Roman Church. Each pope since that time has followed in direct succession from St. Peter. The structures that evolved with the centralization of wealth and power and learning seem to outside observers to be very different from the prophetic tradition in which Jesus stood and to the actual teachings of Jesus himself. Still, the church is the result of people of faith trying to live their faith in this world. It is unfair for those of us who belong to different traditions to criticize from the outside.
The truth is that the structures of the church – of any church – are far from perfect. 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels . . .” Our structures are prone to mistakes and failures and scandals. No church leader, no matter how pious and well meaning, is the same as Jesus. In the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds us that “our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect.”
So don’t expect me to predict what is to come for the church. I will wait and watch and pray. One thing about it: the journey is never boring.