I was all set to move on a nice, light post about the baseball spring training camps opening up in Florida and Arizona, when the news hit about Pope Benedict's decision to step down at the end of the month. My initial response, like almost everyone, was one of surprise, but I can't say that I was shocked. The Holy Father had spoken of a potential retirement as not only possible, but as a moral imperative depending on the situation.
There are two different points of view on this. One is that the Pope, like all bishops, is the spiritual father of his flock. For a local ordinary it is his diocese, and for the Bishop of Rome, as successor of Peter, his paternity extends to the universal Church. A father of the family doesn't stop being the father because of age or illness. So it is with the Pope. While John Paul II reputedly contemplated retiring around the year 2000, he didn't for this reason. There was a time in the early years of the Church when bishops weren't replaced before death because, the thinking went, you couldn't have two fathers in the same household. A successor was sometimes named ahead of time, but he didn't take possession of his local church until his predecessor was laid to rest.
The other line of thinking is that we live in a fast moving age, and the Church needs to respond quickly to events. The Pope needs to have the energy and mental alertness to be effective. As we live longer, it also means that more of us can expect to suffer the ravages of old like dementia and the many forms of cancer that seem to inevitably develop. It only makes sense to have a mechanism in place that allows a pope to step aside to make way for a younger, more capable man. Some would even say that there should be a mandatory retirement age, or at least firm mechanism in place to remove a pope who has become physically or mentally incapacitated.
While I'm not sure I am in favor of some sort of mandatory papal retirement age, I think that the Holy Father knows what he's doing. He's been in the Chair of Peter long enough; he knows the demands and if can meet them. It is a loss for the Church, to be sure. But I have faith the Spirit will give us a Pope we need right now.
So, what next? My guess is that every move that Benedict makes in the next two weeks, leading up to his retirement, will be carefully chosen, because they will be setting the precedence for future pontiffs who make the same decision. The Holy Father is a man keenly aware of Church traditions, and has spent his ecclesiastical career "looking to the sources." It is now a bit ironic that he will be paving a new road for others to follow.
Will he go back to being a cardinal? I've seen two different reports, one saying yes, the other saying he is going to have to be re-appointed to the Sacred College. Stay tuned.
Will he retain papal infallibility? No. That is a grace of state attached to the office of pope. His successor will have a distinct advantage over other popes who have reigned in the last 600 years, because for the first time in modern times there will be another man alive who knows what he is going through, and he would be wise to seek his predecessor's advise. But it is the pope, and only the pope, by the grace of the Spirit, who exercises such authority.
Who will the next pope be? I've been asked that question a lot, and I am sure I don't have the slightest idea. It's best to ignore the prognosticators. The rule of thumb is that the cardinal that goes in the conclave a favorite comes out a cardinal.
I will be writing more about this, obviously, as more is know about why the pope made this decision, and the conclave to choose his successor approaches.
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