Shocking News from Rome

To say I was shocked upon hearing this news first thing this morning would be an understatement. Tory Royalist called me up and I was told, "you're not going to believe this" and indeed it took a bit of frantic channel flipping and listening to the full statement before I accepted that this was not some sort of joke. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has announced his abdication as Supreme Pontiff, Bishop of Rome, etc, etc. Once the shock sunk in I began to wonder who might be next. The Pope announced his abdication (in Latin -how long will that last now) as being effective from the 28th day of this month, stunning the world. The only reasons given were basically age and infirmity, despite the fact that Benedict XVI is still a young man when compared to Pope Leo XIII who reigned into his 90's and he is certainly far more able than his immediate predecessor Pope John Paul II was in the final years of his papacy. The world has been stunned by this unprecedented event, coming on the heels of the abdication of HM Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands which also sparked a great deal of talk over the (possible but highly unlikely) abdication of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Not having time as yet to check the records, the only prior case of a papal abdication that comes to my mind is that of St Celestine V which happened over seven hundred years ago. There was never a rule against it (and one would be hard to enforce since the Pope can pretty much do as he pleases) but it is as close to being unprecedented as anything could be.

My initial reaction was one of bewilderment. Of all the recent popes, Benedict XVI is the last one I would have expected to walk off the job. John Paul II certainly would have had more justification given his very frail condition (the man could barely even speak) and it would not have surprised me coming from Paul VI who broke with a number of traditions and who was, by the end of his reign, a rather depressed man under criticism from every quarter. For Benedict XVI to abdicate however, I would have bet my last dime that such a thing would never happen. Yet it has. I have to say, in all honesty, my opinion of Benedict XVI is not quite the same as it was when I went to sleep last night, unaware of what was going on in Rome at the time. As I said at the announcement of the Dutch abdication, I am not terribly fond of abdications in general and this one even less so for a variety of reasons.

In some monarchies, like The Netherlands, abdication has become the norm rather than the exception. This is certainly not the case at the Vatican and, whereas the next King of The Netherlands is a known quantity, no one knows who will be elected to sit on the Throne of St Peter after Benedict XVI. He has done a good deal to "pack the college" as they say, but there is still no guarantee when it comes to elections. It also seems incredible that Benedict XVI could cite age and infirmity as reasons for his abdication given what was endured by John Paul II. The Pope also made mention of his increasing inability to travel and yet, such travels are hardly a job requirement. In the history of the papacy they are a recent innovation. I don't think any pontiff from Pius VII to Paul VI ever left Italy and, of course, from Leo XIII to Benedict XV no pope ever even left Vatican City. In short, none of the reasons given really seem to hold up in my opinion and it makes me rather sad to say so. The papacy does not have to be simply a young man's job.

As with secular monarchs, and perhaps even moreso, the individual ability of a Pope is but one aspect of a larger picture. He serves a purpose simply by being there, by just existing he symbolizes a great deal and he is there, not just for what he can do, but for his people to believe in, to be a reassurance that the chain is unbroken, the bridge is still standing and, to quote a famous poem, "God is in his Heaven and all is right with the world". He could have carried out his mission (in my opinion) without ever even leaving the Apostolic Palace if he did not feel up to it and, though I am sorry if this offends anyone, it just seems to me like throwing in the towel. From what I have seen, most seem to be shocked but wishing the Pope well and accepting that he made the right decision. For myself, I cannot totally agree. Some important steps were made during his reign for a return to tradition and who is to say what will become of that now? Everyone should hope for the best but it seems to me that this is not something that we should have to be faced with right now -and goodness knows I can already hear the conspiracy mill getting fired up. This will be their biggest boost since the sudden death of John Paul I.

I suppose I could look at it as a good thing that most people seem to be reacting as positively and trustingly as they are. However, and again I am sorry if this offends or upsets anyone, the nagging notion at the back of my mind continues to be that this is simply quitting. In my view, that is a luxury a pope does not have barring some extraordinary circumstances. The captain is supposed to go down with the ship and if God chooses you for a position, you do your best in that position until God himself calls you home and not before. If that means the Pope can no longer travel, no problem, the people can come to him. Again, I think of John Paul II who could barely speak and could not move around on his own at all, yet he continued to soldier on and gave the world an example about how to deal with suffering and how to honor and appreciate the elderly. This is significant to me only because I could accept such an abdication more easily if there was some better reason for it but old age just doesn't pass muster with me and I never thought Benedict XVI would be one to do it. True, as a cardinal he had tried to resign before but John Paul II would not allow it and the then Cardinal Ratzinger said that he could not simply retire while seeing what the Pope at the time was going through, with even greater burdens than he had, without giving up.

I wish I could be more positive about this and, believe it or not, I do try to look on the bright side of things once in a while but, so far, I really cannot see this as a good thing. Perhaps it will take a little time to see it differently. In any case, I wish the soon-to-be former Pope all the best and I hope a worthy man is chosen to take his place. One sure way to tell will be if there is a coronation or not. After all, we have been told that with Benedict XVI it was talked about but that there simply wasn't time to organize such a ceremony. Well, this time there shouldn't be any excuses. If the next pope wants one, there is no good reason why he shouldn't have one. That will tell us something about the man from the very start.