About the one who is going to be hidden to the world, according to his own words.
After having repeatedly examined his conscience before God, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger at the age of 85 has come
to the certainty that his strengths, due to an advanced age, are no
longer suited to what he calls an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.
 |
| Pope Benedictus XVI at a private audience (january,20 - 2006) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
"I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiriual
nature, must be carried out not only by words and deeds but no less with
prayer and suffering.
"
Because the Pope has not died there is no need for the traditional nine
days of mourning, but there will be a Conclave (a meeting of Cardinals to
select the
new Pope).
A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said the German-born Pope deserved "respect"
and "gratitude" for his nearly eight years as pontiff after he
announced he was to step down.
"The federal government has the greatest possible respect for the Holy
Father, for his accomplishments, for his life-long work for the Catholic
Church," said Steffen Seibert, adding he deserved also "gratitude."
The soft-spoken German, who always maintained
that he never wanted to be pope, was an uncompromising conservative on
social and theological issues, fighting what he regarded as the
increasing secularization of society.
It remains to be seen whether his successor will continue such battles or do more to bend with the times.
Despite
his firm opposition to tolerance of homosexual acts, his eight year
reign saw gay marriage accepted in many countries. He has staunchly
resisted allowing women to be ordained as priests, and opposed embryonic
stem cell research, although he retreated slightly from the position
that condoms could never be used to fight AIDS.
He
repeatedly apologized for the Church's failure to root out child abuse
by priests, but critics said he did too little and the efforts failed to
stop a rapid decline in Church attendance in the West, especially in
his native Europe.
Victims of the child sex abuse crisis that has engulfed the Catholic
church during Pope Benedict's tenure welcomed his unexpected resignation
on Monday, amid speculation over what prompted his departure.
Survivors
Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap), an organisation of 12,000
members worldwide, claim Benedict is personally responsible for
widespread abuse within the church because he chose to protect its
reputation over the safety of children. US lawyers who are currently
suing the pontiff and other high-ranking Holy See officials for
systematically concealing sexual crimes around the world, said his
resignation may lead to more international prosecutions.
David
Clohessy, executive director of Snap, condemned the pope's "terrible
record" on child sex abuse and said he hoped he would "finally show some
courageous leadership on the abuse crisis" in his remaining days.
Clohessy
told the Guardian: "Before he became pope his predecessor put him in
charge of the abuse crisis. He has read thousands of pages of reports of
the abuse cases from across the world. He knows more about clergy sex
crimes and cover-ups than anyone else in the church yet he has done
precious little to protect children."
He said a big question for
the pope's successor is "what he will do in a very tangible way to
safeguard children, deter cover-ups, punish enablers and chart a new
course. What matters is not whether a statement is unprecedented but
whether an action is affected."
In addition to
child sexual abuse crises, Ratzinger his papacy saw the Church rocked by Muslim
anger after he compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over
rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier. During a scandal over the Church's
business dealings, his butler was accused of leaking his private
papers.
In an announcement read to
cardinals in Latin, the universal language of the Church, the
85-year-old said: "Well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full
freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of
Rome,
Successor of St Peter ...
"As from
28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours (1900 GMT) the See of Rome, the See of
St. Peter will be vacant and a conclave to elect the new
Supreme Pontiff
will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is."
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said
Benedict did not intend to influence the decision of the cardinals in a
secret conclave to elect a successor.
A new leader of the world's 1.2 billion
Roman
Catholics could be elected as soon as Palm Sunday, on March 24, and be
ready to take over by Easter a week later, Lombardi said.
Several
popes in the past, including Benedict's predecessor John Paul, have
refrained from stepping down over their health, because of the division
that could be caused by having an "ex-pope" and a reigning pope alive at
the same time.
Lombardi said the
pope did not fear a possible "schism", with Catholics owing allegiances
to a past and present pope in case of differences on Church teachings.
He
indicated the complex machinery of the process to elect a new pope
would move quickly because the Vatican would not have to wait until
after the elaborate funeral services for a pope.
It
is not clear if Benedict will have a public life after he resigns.
Lombardi said Benedict would first go to the papal summer residence
south of Rome and then move into a cloistered convent inside the Vatican
walls.
The resignation means that
cardinals from around the world will begin arriving in Rome in March and
after preliminary meetings, lock themselves in a secret conclave and
elect the new pope from among themselves in votes in the
Sistine Chapel.
There
has been growing pressure on the Church for it to choose a pope from
the developing world to better reflect where most Catholics live and
where the Church is growing.
 |
| Mar Mathew Arackal, Bishop of Kanjirapally,with the Pope (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
"It
could be time for a black pope, or a yellow one, or a red one, or a
Latin American," said Guatemala's Archbishop
Oscar Julio Vian Morales.
The cardinals may also want a younger man. John Paul was 58 when he was elected in 1978. Benedict was 20 years older.
"We
have had two intellectuals in a row, two academics, perhaps it is time
for a diplomat," said Father Tom Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock
Theological Center at Georgetown University. "Rather than electing the
smartest man in the room, they should elect the man who will listen to
all the other smart people in the Church."
Liberals have already begun calling for a pope that would be more open to reform.
"The
current system remains an 'old boy's club' and does not allow for
women's voices to participate in the decision of the next leader of our
Church," said the
Women's Ordination Conference, a group that wants
women to be able to be priests.
+
McMurry said he personally holds Benedict responsible for "decades"
of cover-up of the sex abuse scandal, during which time bishops were
instructed to send paedophile priests from one district to another.
"It is a good day when a bad pope or a bad leader of your religion steps aside," he said.
McMurry
said he believed Benedict was appointed to the papacy in part because
he had kept the sex abuse scandal at bay to protect the reputation of
the church.
"We have seen documentations. We know that this is the
role that Benedict played, and he did a terrific job of containing a
scandal until it could be contained no more and it exploded."
"It
is hard for me to accept that Benedict would step down. Unless there was
a potential scandal that we will never know about that was bargained
away. There's a lot of skull-duggery here. It just doesn't add up" he
said.
The Center for Constitutional Rights,
which filed a case against the pope
last year at the International Criminal Court on behalf of Snap, said
his departure would make international prosecution easier, both in its
case at the ICC and other, potential prosecutions, because it will
remove the immunity given to him as a head of state.
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- A Report on the Crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States
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