WTF? Pope about to resign?!

[kentonio]

The pope is apparently about to resign his office, something that hasn't happened for centuries. Not very often there's a genuinely 'WTF?!' news story, but this is one of them. Place your bets now on what the hell this is about..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21409149

[Ecthy]

We are resignation.

[kentonio]

I suspect he read some of Ben's posts and it made him lose his faith. :desire:

[Alexander's Horse]

Glad someone beat Ben to it, lol.

[Alexander's Horse]

Of course people will look for scandal, and maybe there is one, but on the face of it he is retiring sensibly out of old age.

This is amazing news and good for the church. It will have wide ramifications.

Even here in Micronesia we have a very old Bishop, a great man, the first Micronesian Bishop, but very ill. I had meeting with him last year and he has a sort of galloping consumption. He could barely breath, dreadful cough, spitting up all the time. It was painful to watch his suffering. He should step down. Maybe now he will feel able to.

[Dinner]

So long Nazi Pope. Maybe he wants to go back to his old job of covering up child molestations.

[Alexander's Horse]

oh come one Oerdin, the old panzer cardinal just did something good. If he resigned partly over scandals that's not a bad thing either.

wait a minute - I seem to channelling Ben - SOMEONE PLEASE SLAP ME

[The Mad Monk]

Of course people will look for scandal, and maybe there is one, but on the face of it he is retiring sensibly out of old age.

I suspect the butler scandal knocked the wind out of him. There may have been further ramifications that we are not aware of.

[Alexander's Horse]

You could be right Monk, I always had a soft spot for the old guy though, I liked him much more than JPII. I thought the Media Pope on the Polish model was bad for catholicism, which should decentralise.

The services are pretty gruelling for an 85 year old. I struggle through a one hour service once a week, papal services are often three or four hours, even longer on occasion, and they happen several times a week during the major festivals. I watched parts of some on EWTN and he was clearly struggling recently. He may have decided he couldn't cope with the Easter services, which when I was a boy were gruelling even for the altar boys in an ordinary parish.

But the conspiracy theorists and the anti-papists will have a field day to be sure. People tend to ignore the obvious.

[Ben Kenobi]

Oh, this is very sad news. I love Papa Benedict.

I was confirmed and just about a week or so later Pope John Paul II passed on. So I've had Benedict most of my time as a Catholic. I love you Benedict. You are one of the good ones.

If for nothing else than bringing out the Ordinariate.

Go forth wise and faithful servant.

[Alexander's Horse]

Ben, I know how you feel, I'll miss him too. It would be hard to outsiders to understand I guess.

Looking at the liturgical calendar, this week we have the start of Lent so the timing does make sense if he is tired. And some of the problems facing the church require someone with a lot of energy at the helm.

[kentonio]

But the conspiracy theorists and the anti-papists will have a field day to be sure. People tend to ignore the obvious.

To be fair at 85 it's bordering on cruelty to expect someone to carry out a schedule like his. It's pretty inevitable that the next week is going to be non-stop nazi/child molestation jokes though.

[Ben Kenobi]

Ben, I know how you feel, I'll miss him too. It would be hard to outsiders to understand I guess.

I loved Pope John Paul II, and I was sad to see him go as well. Especially since he wrote a lot of stuff for catechumens like me at the time. I have such an affinity for der Panzerkardinel. I will miss him.

Edit, and yes, it seems to be ill-health as well. That is sad. This has been a terrible month so far.

[PLATO]

Benedict made it pretty clear back in 2010 that a Pope had the right and duty to resign if he felt he was unable to carry on. I remember the story of that interview where it was made into a big deal that he would even consider it. I think it is the best thing for the Church if he is infirm. The Church needs a dynamic leader in this day and age and Benedict recognizes this fact. This is a truly selfless act in my opinion.

[kentonio]

Favourite tweet so far..

Frankie Boyle @frankieboyle

There'll be a resignation ceremony for the Pope, where he fires electrical rays from his fingers as Darth Vader throws him down a lift shaft