i myself dont really care about this happening. but it's a pretty big religious thing actually and was kinda wondering why it wasn't here on the forum yet. to see what others think about this. like, does someone think we could see this happening more often in the future. or is Pope Benedict XVI's just cheating it's way out of his duty that god gave him?
Old guy wants to retire before he dies on the job as every other pope did. Woohoo?
Actually the only pope who retired before was some centuries ago, Benedikt being the second pope to ever resign before death.
Heard about those ancient prophecies too. We're gonna hear more about it, or possibly even have books and movies made about it... *sigh*
Other conspiracists say he resigned because of some scandals smouldering behind the scenes. Probably this idea came from the VatiLeak thing..
----- My opinion is: best thing he ever did in his career. I trust his reasons (old age, not fit for the job anymore) are correct to a big part, at least. I like the idea that he considers what is best for the church instead of clinging on his power position until he dies as a trembling cretin (sorry for the rude words, but former popes kind of validate the word choice...).
and Pope John Paul II wasn't ill? he could barely say a word without anyone thinking he was having a stroke.
xian never said Paul wasn't ill. The last Pope would have needed to resign, too. But he didn't because he had the right to stay. Chavez was already quite ill when he ran for presidency again. He shouldn't have run and he shouldn't have accepted, yet he did. Same thing.
The Pope used to die because of old age or sickness but with modern medicine people live longer therefore the Pope can not continue because he is getting too old, something they didn't used to do.
The Pope used to die because of old age or sickness but with modern medicine people live longer therefore the Pope can not continue because he is getting too old, something they didn't used to do.
Considering the pope prior to Benedict held on to the point he was a virtual puppet due to health and there have been popes who were older I fail to see how that is really all that valid. I'm not saying it's a bad idea to retire if you don't feel you can do the job, just comes across as a bit laughable considering the job could be preformed by Bernie Lomax. (see Weekend at Bernie's, 1989 for reference)
