The closest of confidants, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger watched from the front row as Pope John Paul II, once a strapping athlete, steadily deteriorated in his later years.
John Paul, burdened by Parkinson’s disease and crippling hip ailments, could no longer walk or talk at the time of his death in 2005 at 84 — a picture of suffering that moved the faithful while presenting a disturbing vision of papal frailty. The physical ordeal also left John Paul distracted from the challenges the church was facing, including the global priest sex abuse scandal.
Ratzinger, elected as Pope Benedict XVI, was at 78 the oldest pope in 300 years. With his resignation, it is clear that he has sought to spare the church another agonizing end — and, in the process, perhaps help the church keep pace with the realities of modern-day medicine.
In his announcement, Benedict said his strength in recent months “has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”
In the church, bishops are forced to resign at the age of 75, and cardinals over 80 are barred from voting in a conclave to elect a new pope. It’s only popes who are expected to rule for life. Now, the first papal resignation in 600 years could help set a modern precedent ensuring that popes, like other leaders with crushing responsibilities, have the mental and physical vigor to carry out the job.
Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois said Benedict “broke a taboo.”
“He broke away from several centuries of practice,” the cardinal said, “and expressed the view that it wasn’t just legitimate but probably useful for a pope to renounce and withdraw from his duties”
“In any event, it’s a liberating act for the future … For the century to come I think that none of Benedict XVI’s successors will feel morally obliged to remain until their death,” the French prelate said.
Milan Cardinal Angelo Scola, considered a top candidate to succeed Benedict, endorsed that view. “It is, as he said, for the good of the church,” said Scola — although at age 71, he, too, would be an elderly pontiff if elected.
An examination of Benedict’s thinking makes the decision less …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News