quote:

Pope Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who took office in 2005 following the death of his predecessor, said on Monday that he will resign on Feb. 28, the first pope to do so in six centuries.

Regarded as a doctrinal conservative, the pope, 85, said that after examining his conscience “before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are longer suited to an adequate exercise” of his position as head of the world’s Roman Catholics.

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.

In a statement in several languages, the pope said his “strength of mind and body” had “deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”

Elected on April 19, 2005, Pope Benedict said his papacy would end on Feb. 28.

He was a popular choice within the college of 115 cardinals who elected him as a man who shared — if at times went beyond — the conservative theology of his predecessor and mentor, John Paul II, and seemed ready to take over the job after serving beside him for more than two decades.

When he took office, Pope Benedict’s well-known stands included the assertion that Catholicism is “true” and other religions are “deficient;” that the modern, secular world, especially in Europe, is spiritually weak; and that Catholicism is in competition with Islam. He had also strongly opposed homosexuality, the ordination of women priests and stem cell research.

Born on April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn, in Bavaria, he was the son of a police officer. He was ordained in 1951, at age 24, and began his career as a liberal academic and theological adviser at the Second Vatican Council, supporting many efforts to make the church more open.

But he moved theologically and politically to the right. Pope Paul VI named him bishop of Munich in 1977 and appointed him a cardinal within three months. Taking the chief doctrinal job at the Vatican in 1981, he moved with vigor to quash liberation theology in Latin America, cracked down on liberal theologians and in 2000 wrote the contentious Vatican document “’Dominus Jesus,” asserting the truth of Catholic belief over others.

The last pope to resign was Gregory XII, who left the papacy in 1415 to end what was known as the Western Schism among numerous competitors for the papacy.

amaranthine posted:

the more important question is, who replaces him?

amaranthine posted:

the largest question for the Catholic Church going forward is if it will continue in a more conservative direction (as Benedict tried to take it) or tries to liberalize in the face of waning support worldwide.

Zephro posted:

He takes off his robe and wizard hat.

I actually think the question of why is more important for now. You gotta give at least 50/50 odds it's related to all the child sex abuse.

The Guardian posted:

The pope announced his decision in Latin this morning during a meeting of Vatican cardinals, informing them of "a decision of great importance for the life of the church".

According to a statement released by the Vatican, Benedict, who is 85, said he was resigning due his age and declining strength.

Benedict, who became the 265th Pope in 2005, is known to suffer from arthritis, particularly in his knees, hips and ankles.

He had been due to travel to Brazil - the largest Catholic country in the world - in July for a youth festival, but concerns had been raised privately among Vatican observers about whether his health would be strong enough.

Zephro posted:

I actually think the question of why is more important for now. You gotta give at least 50/50 odds it's related to all the child sex abuse.

muscles like this? posted:

Considering he's 85 I have to imagine it really is about his age. He probably doesn't want to become the walking punchline that JP2 was by the end of his life.

Zephro posted:

You gotta give at least 50/50 odds it's related to all the child sex abuse.

Amarkov posted:

I'm not sure that there really is a choice here. We're already at the point where church leaders have to implicitly accept that some of their laity are fine with gay people and nearly all of their laity are fine with birth control. If the Vatican insists on moving rightwards, we'll just end up with everyone ignoring them.

Solkanar512 posted:

That's entirely possible, but again this hasn't happened in hundreds of years.

Does he get to vote on the new pope? Combined with age, this could be about an effort to influence the choice of the next pope. Any thoughts?

Budzilla posted:

The problem with this thinking is that the Catholic church is making great inroads on the African continent (population tripled from 1978-2004). Views are usually more conservative there than in western countries. The Vatican probably has accepted that they're ill prepared to combat the secularization of Western society.

quote:

In 2009, he reaffirmed the Catholic social teaching on contraception, in regards to statements made by Pope Benedict XVI that condoms were not a solution to Africa’s AIDS crisis and were taken out of context by the media.[15] Turkson did not rule out condoms in all circumstances suggesting they could be useful in the situation of a married, faithful couple where one partner is infected; although he warns that, as the quality of condoms in Africa is poor, their use could engender false confidence. He said abstinence, fidelity, and refraining from sex if infected were the key to fighting the epidemic. He also believes that the money being spent on condoms would be better spent providing anti-retroviral drugs to those already infected.

quote:

A Roman Catholic cardinal has caused an uproar at the Vatican by screening a spurious YouTube video that makes alarmist predictions about the growth of Islam in Europe.

The seven-minute clip, called “Muslim Demographics,” was the talk of an international gathering of bishops on Monday, two days after Cardinal Peter Turkson screened it during a free discussion period.

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld...deo-at-vatican/

quote:

In response to the global economic crisis started in 2008, Cardinal Turkson together with bishop Mario Toso, elaborated a proposal to reform the international financial system by creating a Global Public Authority and a Global Bank that consider the interest of all developing countries. The document of 40 pages was officially presented in October 2011 and criticizes the actual structure of International Monetary Fund and other institutions.

quote:

Given the timing as well as the substance of The Note, which blames the ills of the global economy on the “excesses” of capitalism and reeks of a redux of the revolutionary socialist Liberation Theology that the Catholic Church under Pope John Paul II had explicitly abjured, many around the world saw the Vatican as lending support to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress....ical-authority/

quote:

In May 2010 Ouellet stood by his comments that abortion is unjustifiable, even in the case of rape, and urged the federal government to help pregnant women keep their child. He said that "Governments are funding clinics for abortion. I would like equity for organizations that are defending also life. If we have equity in funding those instances to help women I think we would make lots of progress in Canada."

quote:

Ouellet believes that many Catholics interpreted the teachings of the Second Vatican Council in far too liberal a way and by doing so disconnected from the core of their faith. Relativism led to priests abandoning celibacy, a drop in proper religious education, and a general infusion of leftist politics — all of which was not the intention of the council.

quote:

"Is it not highly illogical for some people to talk of some whales, and the chimpanzees, and trees as 'endangered species' which must be preserved -- and if you torture a dog in some countries you will be brought to court for your cruelty to animals -- while the killing of unborn babies is labeled 'pro-choice' instead of what it is: murder? Call a spade a spade."

http://www.catholic.org/internation...ry.php?id=42087

Zephro posted:

I actually think the question of why is more important for now. You gotta give at least 50/50 odds it's related to all the child sex abuse.

Junior G-man posted:

Amarkov posted:

Anyone who was not insistent that abortion is the Worst Thing Ever would not be in a position to become Pope. So while the attitude is indeed lovely, I'm not sure it makes sense to point it out as an interesting aspect of their opinions.

Amarkov posted:

Anyone who was not insistent that abortion is the Worst Thing Ever would not be in a position to become Pope. So while the attitude is indeed lovely, I'm not sure it makes sense to point it out as an interesting aspect of their opinions.

Junior G-man posted:

Not necessarily, it could just be old age:

Toplowtech posted:

There is a real debate amongst the more conservative wing of the Curia about kicking the liberals out of the church so the conservatives can keep a "smaller but purer" church.

Regardless of who they select (because the cardinals are mostly all from the conservative wing, it's the priests who are more liberal), it's likely there will be some changes and maybe a real schism.

burmart posted:

Will Benedict be able to participate in the Papal conclave?

QuoProQuid posted:

Do you have a source for that? I know there have been some issues in the Church between the conservative and the liberal wing, but what you are suggesting is far more extreme than anything I have come across.

quote:

“Perhaps the time has come to say farewell to the idea of traditionally Catholic cultures. Maybe we are facing a new and different kind of epoch in the Church’s history, where Christianity will again be characterised more by the mustard seed, where it will exist in small, insignificant groups that nonetheless live an intensive struggle against evil and bring the good into the world – that let God in.”

Toplowtech posted:

And the fact that he allowed back some congregations who still refused Vatican II?

Toplowtech posted:

The fact that the current pope has been defending that idea since 2005? And did it again recently?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4M_UaZmQfQ

Also from his book "Salt of the earth":

And the fact that he allowed back some congregations who still refused Vatican II?

I remember reading a press article with the view of a more liberal priest a few year backs. He was denouncing the idea as a plan from the conservatives in the Church to basically run away with the money and the political advantages the Vatican state confers. I will try to find it again.

QuoProQuid posted:

I would also discourage transposing the American left-right spectrum onto the Church. Benedict is really far to the right on a lot of social issues, but he supported Occupy Wall Street and generally liberal on many economic issues.

quote:

Kathy isn’t so sure about that. She observes that many liberal-leaning Catholics like Father Cutié don’t fight back but “just walk away.” She thinks that the reactionary forces within the Catholic hierarchy “are fighting a lost cause,” and that in “their moral posturing over President Obama’s speech at Notre Dame, they run the risk of alienating a lot more Catholics than they realize.”

But I think that the Catholic Right and the reactionaries in the hierarchy do indeed know what they are doing. They want those of us who embrace religious pluralism and liberalization within the church to leave a global religion –with its well-organized hierarchy and diplomatic nation-state status – solely in their hands. The movers and shakers of the Catholic Right are indeed attempting to provoke a modern day schism within Catholicism and they are willing to lose untold numbers of members in order to achieve a leaner, arguably meaner, but in any case more traditionally orthodox and authoritarian Church. The Pope himself has called for a "a leaner, smaller, purer church."

...

They believe shrinking the Church would only be temporary. Actually, a “pruning” is the more apt description of the agenda of those pushing schism. Liberal and moderate members – many of whom have small families – would be replaced by more traditional-minded Catholics who eschew family planning and would quickly augment the Church’s numbers.

Toplowtech posted:

Except I am not American and "liberal" wing and "conservative" wing are the terms used by the people commenting on Vatican politics?

Also i found the article:
http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v...olic-hurch.html

QuoProQuid posted:

I would also discourage transposing the American left-right spectrum onto the Church. Benedict is really far to the right on a lot of social issues, but he supported Occupy Wall Street and generally liberal on many economic issues.

Junior G-man posted:

3. Cardinal Francis Arinze. Nigeria.



Former refugee, witness of civil war, he might have some decent views.

Also 80 years old, so maybe they won't pick him.

Toplowtech posted:

There is a real debate amongst the more conservative wing of the Curia about kicking the liberals out of the church so the conservatives can keep a "smaller but purer" church.

seiferguy posted:

Also, don't expect anyone who is anything but 100% anti-abortion, anti-contraception (including condoms in Africa) and anti-gay marriage.

Caufman posted:

But with your terms, real debate and kicking out, are you suggesting that there are plans discussed for a widespread campaign in which the clergy will have to identify members of the congregation to boot out?

System Metternich posted:

I just wondered what he'll do exactly after his resignation. He won't be just another cardinal, after all. Will he move in with his brother? Will he keep the ceremonial and liturgical prerogatives a Pope enjoys (Probably not, but we'll see)? Will he retreat into a monastery, like Clement V did after his resignation?

Budzilla posted:

The problem with this thinking is that the Catholic church is making great inroads on the African continent (population tripled from 1978-2004). Views are usually more conservative there than in western countries.

Arglebargle III posted:

Isn't the Catholic Church incredibly strong in South America?