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Monday, February 11, 2013

On The Papal Resignation

Wow. Pope Benedict XVI is resigning. That had to be a tough call. The Catholics I follow on Twitter are shocked and some are dismayed. I'm shocked, but not dismayed. The guy is 85 and holds one of the 5 most important jobs in the world. In his resignation statement he said he was physically incapable of doing the job properly. This pope has been nothing if not a traditionalist, so being the first one to resign in centuries wasn't a decision he made lightly and just on that it deserves respect.

I always liked Pope Benedict. I liked that he unreservedly defended traditional Catholic teachings and was an aggressive proponent of the faith. I sat here drinking my coffee this morning and had the horrifying vision of a world where there's a pope who decides to go along with the mores of the moment. It would be as if the world had become unmoored and was completely adrift.

The world needs a steadfast pope and Benedict was all that and more. God bless him.

Your Mass is almost ended. Go in peace, papa.
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5 comments:

  1. tim eisele6:49 AM

    I expect that he's remembering John Paul II's long decline, and how for all practical purposes the Pope was reduced to a figurehead for some years until he finally died.

    If the Church wants to have Popes that can actually be responsible for making decisions and running the organization, then they need to be in good enough health that their minds are not dulled by pain, medical drugs, or the normal declines of age. In the old days, when most people died abruptly of things like strokes and heart attacks, it might have made sense for Popes to stay in for life. But now that they are more likely than not to spend months or years dying slowly while being kept on life-support, I think Benedict is setting a good precedent.

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  2. K T Cat7:06 AM

    Tim, you hit upon a great point. Benedict is a brilliant guy and there's no doubt he saw in his declining health the opportunity for a church-rocking scandal where it would be revealed that the decisions allegedly made by a 90-year-old pontiff had in fact been the work by a cabal of Cardinals. After having totally screwed up the handling of priestly pedophilia crimes, that's all we'd need.

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  3. Anonymous10:11 AM

    what are the other 4 most important jobs?

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  4. K T Cat10:58 AM

    1. Head Coach, New Orleans Saints.

    2. Manager, Newcastle United.

    3. Maximum Leader of the Feline Theocracy.

    4. My wife.

    Not necessarily in that order.

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  5. Anonymous5:27 AM

    I grew up Baptist and am, therefore, not Catholic. That being said, I can respect a man who realizes he is no longer capable of performing the job he was hired to do and is willing to voluntarily step down. I think Benedict has done a wonderful job of trying to bring the Church back to it's original beliefs and standards.

    I hope whoever succeeds him will also be more concerned with doing what's right instead of doing what's popular.

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