"Pope Benedict stuns Catholic world with resignation; Citing frailty, Benedict XVI announces his departure after 8 years marred by controversy; cardinals are expected to elect a successor next month" by Lisa Wangsness | Globe Staff, February 12, 2013
Pope Benedict XVI, whose reign was hobbled by the clergy sexual abuse crisis, as well as internal Vatican scandals and external controversies, announced Monday that he would relinquish the post he has held for barely eight years.
The surprise announcement, which the pontiff attributed to increasing physical and mental frailty, instantly transformed the study of the Vatican’s internal workings from an esoteric obsession of a few hundred journalists, Catholic bloggers, and prelates into a global preoccupation. Benedict is the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years.
Which is why one thinks something bad is going to happen.
Btw, prophecy says the next pope will be the last, and here we are on the verge of the official start to WWIII. Maybe Benny didn't want to be around for that.
With Benedict’s departure scheduled for Feb. 28, a new pope could be in place before Easter....
Several papal scholars said an American pontiff is very unlikely because the United States already holds such vast geopolitical power. A more relevant question is whether the next pope could be the first from the Southern Hemisphere, where the church is growing....
Benedict’s announcement, which came at the end of a talk to a gathering of cardinals in Rome, stunned the Roman Catholic world. The 85-year-old pontiff is the first to willingly resign in centuries, said Kenneth Pennington, a scholar of church history and canon law at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
That's why it raises suspicions.
Related: Pontiff ’s decision to resign stuns many of faithful
But to close watchers of the Vatican, the announcement was not altogether unexpected....
Am I ever sick of the mixed messages of my mouthpiece media, and I'm also tired of the concealment of information that is then presented as a surprise scoop.
Related: Pope had displayed hints of weariness
You know what I'm weary of, readers.
The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, in 1415, amid great conflict....
In early church history, a living former pope raised the specter of chaos, as the resigned pope could try to revoke his resignation or influence the choice of his successor....
But as the abuse scandal continued to burn across the globe, Benedict declined to punish bishops who failed to remove abusive priests, including Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City, who in September was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of failing to report a priest who had taken pornographic pictures of young children. He is the first US bishop convicted of failing to report abuse.
Related: Worship This Missouri Post
Also see:
Finally, a Verdict in Philly Priest Trial
Better Be Prepared For This Post
Catholic Church Crimes in California
Is that why he is getting out now?
David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests decried Benedict’s record and said he should not get credit for merely talking about the scandal more than his predecessor. But he said the pope’s resignation may raise the possibility that he could take unexpected actions in the days before he steps down.
“It would have a tremendous effect were he to discipline even a handful of the hundreds of complicit bishops,” he said. “He could turn over, right now, thousands of pages of church records about abusers to local law enforcement and international criminal courts. He could instruct bishops around the world to do what 30 American bishops have done, which is post the names of predators on websites.”
Internal Vatican scandals and gaffes also frustrated Benedict’s papacy. Last year, in a captivating intrigue covered breathlessly by the Italian press, the pope’s personal butler was found to have leaked private papal documents to an Italian journalist, revealing infighting and accusations of financial malfeasance within the Vatican.
At the Vatican bank?
Related: Benedict's Butler Released From Jail
There is more on that below.
Despite Benedict’s efforts to improve interfaith relations — he visited the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp and prayed alongside Muslim clerics at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul — he has fumbled in that realm as well.
In 2009, after he lifted the excommunication of four traditionalist bishops, one of whom denied that the Nazis used gas chambers to kill Jews, the Vatican was forced into damage-control mode. Benedict’s top adviser on Catholic-Jewish relations traveled to Boston to meet with Jewish leaders and rededicate a Holocaust memorial.
I don't have to be reminded about that, and look, even the pope has bend knee before the Lobby.
In a speech early in his papacy, he quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor who said “show me just what Mohammed brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.’’ The context was complicated, but the remark set off street protests throughout the Islamic world, and Benedict later apologized for the reaction....
Insult the Muslims and the context is complicated. Ha!
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Also see: A short, colorful list of past papal resignations
A big reason the pope is leaving?
"Vatican police testify in trial of pope’s butler" by Nicole Winfield | Associated Press, October 04, 2012
"Vatican police testify in trial of pope’s butler" by Nicole Winfield | Associated Press, October 04, 2012
VATICAN CITY — Vatican police said Wednesday they found thousands of documents hidden inside the home of Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler, including original documents signed by the pope bearing indications they should be destroyed.
The police officers testified in the trial of Paolo Gabriele, the pope’s once-trusted butler who faces four years in prison if convicted of aggravated theft for allegedly stealing papal documents and leaking them.
Prosecutors have said Gabriele, a devout 46-year-old father of three, confessed to leaking copies of the documents to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi because he wanted to expose the ‘‘evil and corruption’’ in the church to help put it back on the right path.
The documents have ignited an uproar, for they revealed infighting and alleged corruption in the Vatican as the pope grows older and more frail. The security breach has been one of the most damaging scandals of Benedict’s seven-year papacy....
A separate Vatican investigation began Tuesday after Gabriele’s attorney complained that her client endured improper detention conditions during his first 20 days in jail. On Wednesday, the officer in charge of Gabriele’s care defended his treatment and said Gabriele ‘‘repeatedly’’ thanked him for taking such good care of him and his family.
Wednesday’s testimony inside the Vatican tribunal played out against the backdrop of a surreal scene nearby in St. Peter’s Square: As Benedict presided over his weekly general audience, a man who eluded Vatican security sat perched on the dome of the basilica with a banner saying ‘‘Help! Enough Monti!’’ — a reference to Italian Premier Mario Monti and his austerity measures that are aimed at taming Italy’s massive debt.
Related: Another Berlusconi Comeback
The Vatican said the man had refused offers to meet with government ministers if he came down. He gave up his protest Wednesday evening, after more than 24 hours perched on the 426-foot dome to demonstrate against government reforms....
The Vatican police, who protect the pope alongside the Swiss Guards, emphasized the vast amount of documentation found, listing the subject matter in virtually the same order even though they had not heard each other’s testimony.
Luca Cintia, Vatican police vice commissioner, was also questioned about his participation in the May 23 search, but he asked to address the court about allegations that Gabriele had been subject to improper detention conditions.
Gabriele attorney Cristiana Arru said her client spent his first 20 days in detention in a cell where he could not stretch his arms and where the lights were kept on 24 hours a day.
Well, it's not like the Catholic Church has never tortured anyone.
The Vatican defended its treatment of Gabriele, noting that the cell conformed to international standards, saying the lights were kept on as a security measure and to prevent Gabriele from harming himself. It said he even asked for them to be kept on so he would not be so lonely.
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The police officers testified in the trial of Paolo Gabriele, the pope’s once-trusted butler who faces four years in prison if convicted of aggravated theft for allegedly stealing papal documents and leaking them.
Prosecutors have said Gabriele, a devout 46-year-old father of three, confessed to leaking copies of the documents to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi because he wanted to expose the ‘‘evil and corruption’’ in the church to help put it back on the right path.
The documents have ignited an uproar, for they revealed infighting and alleged corruption in the Vatican as the pope grows older and more frail. The security breach has been one of the most damaging scandals of Benedict’s seven-year papacy....
A separate Vatican investigation began Tuesday after Gabriele’s attorney complained that her client endured improper detention conditions during his first 20 days in jail. On Wednesday, the officer in charge of Gabriele’s care defended his treatment and said Gabriele ‘‘repeatedly’’ thanked him for taking such good care of him and his family.
Wednesday’s testimony inside the Vatican tribunal played out against the backdrop of a surreal scene nearby in St. Peter’s Square: As Benedict presided over his weekly general audience, a man who eluded Vatican security sat perched on the dome of the basilica with a banner saying ‘‘Help! Enough Monti!’’ — a reference to Italian Premier Mario Monti and his austerity measures that are aimed at taming Italy’s massive debt.
Related: Another Berlusconi Comeback
The Vatican said the man had refused offers to meet with government ministers if he came down. He gave up his protest Wednesday evening, after more than 24 hours perched on the 426-foot dome to demonstrate against government reforms....
The Vatican police, who protect the pope alongside the Swiss Guards, emphasized the vast amount of documentation found, listing the subject matter in virtually the same order even though they had not heard each other’s testimony.
Luca Cintia, Vatican police vice commissioner, was also questioned about his participation in the May 23 search, but he asked to address the court about allegations that Gabriele had been subject to improper detention conditions.
Gabriele attorney Cristiana Arru said her client spent his first 20 days in detention in a cell where he could not stretch his arms and where the lights were kept on 24 hours a day.
Well, it's not like the Catholic Church has never tortured anyone.
The Vatican defended its treatment of Gabriele, noting that the cell conformed to international standards, saying the lights were kept on as a security measure and to prevent Gabriele from harming himself. It said he even asked for them to be kept on so he would not be so lonely.
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"Second Vatican leak trial gets underway; Programmer says ties to convicted butler were casual" by Frances D’Emilio | Associated Press, November 06, 2012
VATICAN CITY — A Vatican computer programer accused of helping the pope’s former butler steal secret correspondence did not know the man well and had little motive to risk his 20 years on the job for him, a defense lawyer argued Monday at the start of the second trial in the scandal.
The Vatican’s accusations are based in part on information from an anonymous source that the two defendants had frequent contacts, but Paolo Gabriele, the former butler, didn’t even trust his client enough to let him upgrade his outdated work computer, lawyer Gianluca Benedetti told the court...
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Related:
Pope pardons ex-butler who stole, leaked documents
The pardon closes a painful and embarrassing chapter for the Vatican, capping a sensational scandal that exposed power struggles, intrigue, and charges of corruption and homosexual liaisons in the highest levels of the Catholic Church.
Could that be the reason?
Related: Pope stresses family values as gay marriage gains
Maybe it's the hypocrisy.
None of the leaked documents threatened the papacy. Most were of interest only to Italians, as they concerned relations between Italy and the Vatican and a few local scandals and personalities. Their main aim appeared to be to discredit Benedict’s trusted number two, the secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone."
I took the time to read it, didn't I?
Pope pardons ex-butler who stole, leaked documents
The pardon closes a painful and embarrassing chapter for the Vatican, capping a sensational scandal that exposed power struggles, intrigue, and charges of corruption and homosexual liaisons in the highest levels of the Catholic Church.
Could that be the reason?
Related: Pope stresses family values as gay marriage gains
Maybe it's the hypocrisy.
None of the leaked documents threatened the papacy. Most were of interest only to Italians, as they concerned relations between Italy and the Vatican and a few local scandals and personalities. Their main aim appeared to be to discredit Benedict’s trusted number two, the secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone."
I took the time to read it, didn't I?
"Pontiff’s mission clouded by sex abuse scandal; Efforts to foster traditions, faith split Catholics" by Nicole Winfield | Associated Press, February 12, 2013
VATICAN CITY — Like John Paul, Benedict had made reaching out to Jews a hallmark of his papacy. His first official act as pope was a letter to Rome’s Jewish community and he became the second pope in history, after John Paul, to enter a synagogue.
His 2009 visit to Israel, however, drew a lukewarm response from officials at Jerusalem’s national Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial who found Benedict’s speech lacking. His call for a Palestinian state also put a damper on the visit.
You can't even say it without upsetting them.
Jews were also incensed at Benedict’s constant promotion toward sainthood of Pope Pius XII, the World War II-era pope accused by some of having failed to sufficiently denounce the Holocaust.
And they criticized Benedict when he removed the excommunication of a traditionalist British bishop who had denied the Holocaust.
Related: Father, Why Have You Forgotten Me?
Benedict’s relations with the Muslim world were also mixed....
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Doesn't he look like a devil?
"Pope encourages social networking" by Nicole Winfield | Associated Press, January 25, 2013
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI put church leaders on notice Thursday, saying social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter aren’t a virtual world they can ignore, but rather a very real world they must engage if they want to spread the faith to the next generation.
Benedict, 85, who tweets in nine languages, used his annual message on social communications to stress the potential of social media for the church as it struggles to keep followers and attract new ones amid religious apathy, competition from other churches, and scandals that have driven the faithful away....
Also see:
So who will be the next pope?
"Amid praise for pontiff, some see chance for change" by Juliana Barbassa | Associated Press, February 12, 2013
RIO DE JANEIRO — In Latin America, home to about 40 percent of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, believers hoped the cardinals who select Benedict’s successor will pay close attention to candidates from their region.
‘‘I think it’s time to name a pope from Latin America,’’ 65-year-old homemaker Josefa Sanchez said at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Santa Tecla, a city on the outskirts of El Salvador’s capital of San Salvador. ‘‘Really, they should name one of ours, they’ve only named Europeans until now.’’
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"Papal search could focus more on vision than region" by Elisabetta Povoledo | New York Times, February 12, 2013
ROME — Acknowledgment of the growth of the importance of developing countries could be a factor in the choice.
Andrew Chesnut, a scholar on Latin American religions at Virginia Commonwealth University, said that the church faced big challenges in the region, even as Vatican leaders contemplate shifting demographics, with an estimated half of the world’s Catholics now living in Latin America.
“The smart move for the Vatican for the future of the world church, which lies in the global south, would be a Latin American or African pope,’’ Chesnut said.
African hopes for the papacy center on Peter Turkson of Ghana, a charismatic and popular senior church leader who is in his mid-60s.
When Turkson was asked in 2009 at a Vatican news conference about the possibility of a black pope, he replied: ‘‘An African pope? Why not?’’ according to the Catholic News Service.
A black pope? That is about as likely as a black preside.... oh, right.
Maybe it would do the church good, although I can't see all the white European and Americans accepting it.
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Did you see who the leading contenders were?
Related(?): How the Vatican built a secret property empire using Mussolini's millions
Four Priests Charged In Vatican Banking Scandal
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
Cardinal O’Malley reflects on trials for next pope
Vatican says Pope Benedict will not sway vote
Pope’s resignation was his most important act
