Pope Francis to retire after Benedict’s death
2023.01.03 09:06
Pope Francis to retire after Benedict’s death
Budrigannews.com – Six months ago, Pope Francis denied rumors that he was about to resign because of health issues. However, even if he had considered doing so, he had to overcome one major obstacle: Another former pope was already retiring.
Francis and the Church, which has struggled enough with having “two popes,” let alone three—two retired and one reigning—should find any decision to step down easier given Benedict’s passing on Saturday. In 2013, he became the first pontiff in 600 years to step down rather than reign for life.
It might also get the current pope to think about what happens to future popes who decide to step down due to old age rather than staying in office until they die.
One year older than Benedict when he retired, Francis is now 86. He doesn’t seem to be slowing down, even though he needs a wheelchair and a cane. This month’s and August’s travel plans include trips to Portugal and Africa.
He has clarified that he wouldn’t hold back to step down sometime assuming his psychological or actual wellbeing blocked him from driving the 1.3 billion-part Church.
He denied rumors of an imminent resignation in an interview with Reuters on July 2. He also denied that he had cancer, and he said, “It never entered my mind.”
In the preceding month, a flurry of unverified reports and frivolous tweets suggesting that he would step down within a few months engulfed the Catholic media as well as some secular outlets.
However, the likelihood of his resignation increasing as he approaches the 10th anniversary of his election in March and the ninth decade of his life in four years.
A safeguard that dates back to the centuries when European potentates influenced the papacy can be found in church law, which states that a pope may resign, but the decision must be made without outside pressure.
There have been repeated calls from Church leaders to regulate the role of former pontiffs now that longer life spans have made papal resignations no longer unthinkable. This is in part due to the confusion caused by two white men living in the Vatican.
Last month, Francis told a Spanish newspaper that he did not intend to define the legal status of popes emeritus, despite the fact that he had previously privately stated that a Vatican department could write such regulations.
Cardinal George Pell, a conservative from Australia who was close to Benedict, has written that a retired pontiff should return to being a cardinal and be known as “Cardinal (surname), Pope Emeritus” rather than the title “pope emeritus.”
In an interview with Reuters in 2020, Pell stated that it was essential for Catholics to be aware that “there is only one pope” and that a former pontiff should not wear white, as Benedict did.
The Church cannot risk even the appearance of having “two heads or two kings,” according to scholars and canon lawyers at Bologna University in Italy who have investigated the matter and proposed a set of guidelines.
They argue that rather than being referred to as “Bishop Emeritus of Rome,” as Pell proposes, a former pope should instead be promoted to cardinal.
In July, Francis told Reuters that’s exactly what he wants to be called.
He would then be subject to the existing regulations for retired bishops, so there might not be a need for new legislation.
The emeritus bishops are required to “avoid every attitude and relationship that could even hint at some kind of parallel authority to that of the diocesan bishop, with damaging consequences for the pastoral life and unity of the diocesan community,” according to the rules that are currently in place.
Even though he had retired, Benedict continued to write and give interviews, and whether he knew it or not, he became a lightning rod for those who opposed Pope Francis, either for doctrinal reasons or because they were unwilling to give up the clerical privileges that the new pope wanted to end.
“Because it’s my diocese,” Francis told Reuters, “I would not stay in the Vatican or return to my native Argentina.” Instead, he would live modestly in a home for retired priests in the Italian capital. He stated that he would prefer it to be close to a large church so that he could hear confessions during his final days.
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