Wow.
Pope Benedict has announced that he will resign the papacy due to deteriorating health, effective February 28, 2013. There will be a conclave to elect his successor shortly thereafter.
The last time a pope resigned was 1415.
Text of the Pope's statement:
Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
From the Vatican, 10 February 2013
BENEDICTUS PP XVI
Pope Benedict XIV is a manifestly holy and good man, who has served God and His Church with distinction all of his life. We have been blessed by his papacy.
Please pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance in the election of a new Shepherd for our Church.
He is greatest in the today’s world, if body and mind not enough reach the position requirement better to somebody else, and guide from outside, this is what every top suppose to flows……
ReplyDeleteYes sheeple, pray to your holy ghost for guidance. Last time there wasn’t enough praying and the Devil easily managed to install a former Hitler Youth named Rat zinger, who not coincidentally looks like the evil emperor from Star Wars, and whose main accomplishment is ensuring maximal spred of AIDS in Africa. The Devil couldn’t have been more obvious, yet the flocks of sheeple simply knelt and said “yes master”.
ReplyDelete-KW
Blaming the pope for the terrible things the Nazis did is like blaming Bill Clinton or Al Gore for segregation. The major difference being that Clinton actually worked for a segregationist senator, and Gore is the son of a segregationist senator.
DeleteLittle John
Pope Benedict XIV is a manifestly holy and good man, who has served God and His Church with distinction all of his life. We have been blessed by his papacy.
ReplyDeleteYeah right. He served his fellow cocksuckers in the church really well by covering up their crimes. Let's see what criminal will replace him. Probably some third world fire and brimstone type.
What Troy, the homophobic bigot, fails to understand, is this... it matters not a whit whether Benedict is homosexual or not. As long as he is celibate.
DeletePriests do not take a vow of heterosexuality.
What a surprise! The subject of gay sex comes up, and there is... The Torch! Maybe you should talk to some professionals about your obsession with gay sex.
DeleteOf course Benedict sucks cock. So do most of his buddies in the Vatican. This is well known.
It is also well known that he covered up clerical abuse. See here for example.
Hey Troy, do you hate Planned Parenthood as much as you hate the Catholic Church? There's video tape evidence of PP covering up child rape.
DeleteThe Torch
Troy, why do gay men constantly try to claim every historical figure is gay? They even tried to do that with Abraham Lincoln, for heaven's sake. And the gay bois in Chicago claim Barack Obama is on the down low.
DeleteIs it because you're such an extreme minority? The 1%, as it were?
The Torch:
DeleteI've already accused you of being a repressed kiddie fucker three times and you've never bothered to deny it, so it must be true.
Why bother? Your credibility is zero.
Well, Troi, you're right. They haven't claimed Mussolini yet.
DeleteAnyone who doesn't believe that anti-Catholic bigotry is pervasive ought to read any news story about the pope's announcement, then read the comments.
ReplyDeleteThe Torch
@Torch:
DeleteAbsolutely true. The intensity and range of anti-Catholic hate from the secular world is remarkable.
We Catholics must be doing something right.
One thing, Dr. Egnor. I don't think that Benedict is a manifestly good and holy man. Actually, I don't think that there are any manifestly good and holy men walking the earth today. We're all pretty wretchted creatures and we have been since the Fall. We're sinful, and our nature is more bad than good. That's why we need a savior.
ReplyDeleteJQ
@JQ:
DeleteIndeed. I'm sure Benedict would be the first to insist that any goodness he might manifest is that of the Lord, working through him.
But I like the guy. He's a brilliant humble man, and I'm grateful for his life of service to our beloved Church and to the Lord.