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POPE BENEDICT XVI RESIGNS

Posted on | February 11, 2013 | 34 Comments

The 86-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church has announced he will retire effective Feb. 28, citing poor health.

UPDATE: In a statement, Pope Benedict writes:

“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”

UPDATE II: Pete Da Tech Guy aggregates the online reaction, unfortunately including tasteless hateful anti-Catholic remarks.

UPDATE III: Popes nearly always die in office. How rare are papal resignations? “[T]he last time this happened, Gutenberg hadn’t yet invented the printing press,” Ed Morrissey writes at Hot Air, noting that Benedict XVI (formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) is also “one of the Church’s greatest living theologian.”

UPDATE IV: A massive aggregation at Memeorandum, with blog reaction including Wlady Pleszczynski of The American Spectator:

The New York Times immediately injects a note of gracelessness:

The announcement is certain to plunge the Roman Catholic world into frenzied speculation about his likely successor and to evaluations of a papacy that was seen as both conservative and contentious.

Why is “conservative” associated with “contentious” in the liberal mind? From whom is Benedict’s papacy to receive this “evaluation”? Never mind: When you’re the New York Times, your mere assertions automatically acquire the equivalent authority of facts.

UPDATE V: In the same liberal alternative universe where people believe everything they read in the New York Times, Frankie Boyle is considered a “comedian”:

More than 1,400 RTs in barely four hours. Liberals are generally humorless, but they think hate is hilarious.

 


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Category: Catholics

Comments

  • gloogle gloogle

    I’m kinda hocked, actually. 1) Of course he was pretty old, even for a Pope, but you didn’t hear a lot about his physical limitations, compared to say John Paul II. But that was probably because he wanted it that way. 2) As you pointed out, this is a stunningly rare occurrence. But I trust him that he truly feels that God is OK with this. 3) Isn’t it amazing how much vitriol is baked into the Church-haters? And Ratzinger was one of the leaders in reforming the Church’s policies on sexual abuse. H8ters gotta h8, I guess…

  • gloogle gloogle

    *shocked* (PIMF, verily)

  • http://twitter.com/DaTechGuyblog Peter Ingemi

    Don’t be surprised to see him on twitter after the fact under a new account. This will allow him to continue to be able to engage the faithful

  • Pingback: Da Tech Guy's Blog » Blog Archive The Pope Resigns, first thoughts (8 updates and counting) » Da Tech Guy's Blog

  • http://twitter.com/DelaneyCoffer Delaney Coffer

    He was a “rottweiler” because he’s hung up on all that bible bullshit. Hopefully the next Pope will recognize the obsolescence of Christianity so as to earn the approval of leftist scum.

  • Steve Skubinna

    You know, this would be a perfect time for the College of Cardinals to reach out to the NYT and offer them a seat at the election. Building bridges and all that. They could also appoint Amanda Marcotte as a special representative, and maybe solicit Richard Dawkins’ views as well.

  • Wombat_socho

    I would like to see this, but I suspect he is fatally ill and not just suffering from the infirmities of age.

  • Wombat_socho

    Yeah, that’ll happen. Sure.

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  • PhillyCon

    RE: NY Times … what do they know about religion? They might as well be studying a foreign culture.

  • PhillyCon

    Not a Catholic, but blessings to the Pope.

  • PhillyCon

    Isn’t it hilarious when liberals invoke concepts like “hell?” “Frankie Boyle” is clearly joking about something he doesn’t understand and showing his juvenile type ignorance.

    Edit: I thought liberals said we weren’t supposed to judge who is going to hell and who is not. /

  • http://opinion.ak4mc.us/ McGehee

    Benedict is 85; John Paul died at 84. Clearly Benedict is in better health for his age but he was already past his three-score-and-ten when he was elected.

    Still, I’m curious why he thought Lent is the right time to abdicate?

    (BTW, “abdicate” is the correct term, not “resign.” The BBC would never say of Edward VIII that he “resigned” as king.)

  • http://opinion.ak4mc.us/ McGehee

    At least one person doesn’t appear to have detected the /sarc tag.

  • Pingback: Yes, Popes Can Resign | Andrew J. Patrick

  • Garym

  • Pingback: On the resignation of the Roman Catholic Church Leader Joseph Ratzinger | Thinking Americanist

  • http://twitter.com/dariaanne Daria DiGiovanni

    Well this has certainly brought out the Catholic bigotry not only among the left but among some of my conservative non-Catholic friends. Disappointing and disheartening to say the least. We may disagree on some matters of faith but I believe we have more in common than in opposition. If only some of them could afford me the same respect I demonstrate toward their denomination of Christianity. But I guess I’m just a descendent in the long line of “Hitler Youth to the Vatican” as someone on Ted Cruz’s Facebook thread noted. I expect utter depravity from the left, but when people on the right exhibit similar attitudes, it’s beyond upsetting.

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    Indeed, the Pope is a monarch.

  • Mark Andrew Edwards

    Eh, Frankie Boyle is funny (he ruled ‘Mock the Week’, see it on youtube). He’s also a hate-filled, self-loathing narcissistic who doesn’t believe in anything.

    But, funny, though humor, like sexiness is subjective.

  • http://twitter.com/richard_mcenroe richard mcenroe

    Progressives are always the most profound bigots. They have to be, given their wholly unfounded conceit that they alone know how to properly run the world. The only thing that ever changes is the approved object of their hate, although Jews seem to be a pretty set constant. Oh, and people who make a success of themselves. Otherwise they’ve pretty much run the gamut of ethnic and religious subgroups throughout history.

  • http://twitter.com/sdo1 Steve in TN ™

    I’ve read dozens of news items and blog entries about this. Not one stated when he assumed the Papacy. That’s a basic fact to be included, isn’t it?

  • http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

    The headline you should have used is:

    Pope Joins Millions Leaving Workforce Under Obama

  • http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

    There’s usually an “Al” in any scandal.

  • JeffWeimer

    Ed’s at HOTAIR mentioned it, at least the year, 2005.

  • http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

    Al Sharpton
    Al Gore
    Al Qaeda
    etc.

  • Pingback: Pope Benedict To Abdicate* « The Camp Of The Saints

  • DaveO

    Good for the Pope! Hopefully, he’ll put his thumb on the scale and the RC Church will get another, but much younger, not-American, conservative Pope.

  • Pingback: Catholic Church Searches For New Leader As Pope Benedict Abdicates | That Mr. G Guy's Blog

  • Wombat_socho

    It’s different when they do it. [/sarc]

  • Wombat_socho

    No, I’m playing along.

  • http://opinion.ak4mc.us/ McGehee

    I was referring to Delaney receiving a down-click, not your reply — and now there are two down-clicks, and so two people who didn’t get it.

    Unless they’re the people Delaney was aiming at…

  • Wombat_socho

    He’s already said he won’t do that. Evidently he trusts the Spirit to do the right thing. :)

  • beezz

    er … Frankie Boyle? A liberal? I don’t think so. Do your homework blogboy – he’s on your side!

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