Pope cites his advanced age as reason to go
Source: Agencies |
February 13, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
POPE Benedict left the Catholic world in shock after becoming the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to resign his office. He said failing strength had left him unable to lead the church through a period of relentless change and turmoil.
The 85-year-old pontiff announced his abdication as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics in a speech delivered in Latin to cardinals meeting in the Vatican.
"I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to the adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry," he said, referring to the tradition that dates the papacy back to Saint Peter, 2,000 years ago.
He will continue in office until February 28 before stepping down to allow the election of a new pope, which Vatican officials said was expected by the start of Holy Week on March 24.
Famously known as "God's Rottweiler" before his election in 2005, Benedict fought against the spread of materialist values and strongly opposed any relaxation of traditional strictures against contraception, homosexual acts or women priests.
His eight years in office were overshadowed by scandals ranging from the sexual abuse of children by priests to the arrest of his butler for stealing confidential documents.
The complex machinery to choose a successor will move into gear, opening the way for the conclave of cardinals whose decision will be announced with the release of white smoke from a chimney in the Sistine Chapel.
Speculation has grown that the Church could appoint its first non-European leader to reflect the growing weight of regions such as Africa or Latin America, which now accounts for 42 percent of the world's Catholics.
After Benedict's relatively brief papacy, which followed the 27-year pontificate of John Paul II, the cardinals may also be inclined to choose a younger man than Benedict, who was 78 when he was elected.
Whoever is appointed will have to deal with the tension between conservative Catholics who supported Benedict's strictly traditional doctrinal line and others who feel he has stifled change and development.
The last pope to leave office willingly was Celestine V, a saintly hermit who served only a few months before abdicating in 1294. Another pope, Gregory XII, reluctantly abdicated in 1415 to end a dispute with a rival claimant.
The 85-year-old pontiff announced his abdication as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics in a speech delivered in Latin to cardinals meeting in the Vatican.
"I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to the adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry," he said, referring to the tradition that dates the papacy back to Saint Peter, 2,000 years ago.
He will continue in office until February 28 before stepping down to allow the election of a new pope, which Vatican officials said was expected by the start of Holy Week on March 24.
Famously known as "God's Rottweiler" before his election in 2005, Benedict fought against the spread of materialist values and strongly opposed any relaxation of traditional strictures against contraception, homosexual acts or women priests.
His eight years in office were overshadowed by scandals ranging from the sexual abuse of children by priests to the arrest of his butler for stealing confidential documents.
The complex machinery to choose a successor will move into gear, opening the way for the conclave of cardinals whose decision will be announced with the release of white smoke from a chimney in the Sistine Chapel.
Speculation has grown that the Church could appoint its first non-European leader to reflect the growing weight of regions such as Africa or Latin America, which now accounts for 42 percent of the world's Catholics.
After Benedict's relatively brief papacy, which followed the 27-year pontificate of John Paul II, the cardinals may also be inclined to choose a younger man than Benedict, who was 78 when he was elected.
Whoever is appointed will have to deal with the tension between conservative Catholics who supported Benedict's strictly traditional doctrinal line and others who feel he has stifled change and development.
The last pope to leave office willingly was Celestine V, a saintly hermit who served only a few months before abdicating in 1294. Another pope, Gregory XII, reluctantly abdicated in 1415 to end a dispute with a rival claimant.
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