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Subscribe to RSSMentioning no specific ailment other than 'advanced age,' Pope Benedict's parting came as a shocking announcement for many – except for the Pope's brother, who said he knew Benedict had been thinking about stepping down for months. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
Updated at 2:57 p.m. ET: Pope Benedict XVI shocked Catholics around the world Monday by saying that he no longer had the mental or physical strength to carry out his job and would become the first pope since the Middle Ages to give up the title.
The pope, speaking in Latin, informed a small gathering of cardinals at the Vatican of his decision. The abdication will take effect on Feb. 28, and cardinals could gather as early as March to elect a successor.
Benedict, 85, said later in a statement that the papacy required “strength of mind and body,” and that both had deteriorated in recent months. He said that he had made the decision “after having repeatedly examined my conscience before God.”
The abdication closes an eight-year pontificate widely recognized as deeply conservative. The church also spent much of Benedict’s term grappling with sexual abuse scandals.
The pope’s decision shot quickly through the dioceses of the world, and some of the 1.2 billion faithful — from laity to the very cardinals who were in the room — expressed profound surprise.
“I’m as startled as the rest of you and as anxious to find out exactly what’s going on,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said on TODAY. “Except for prayer, I don’t know what else to do. I’ll await instruction with everyone else.”
In an announcement that stunned Catholics around the world, Pope Benedict XVI revealed he will be stepping down from his position, citing failing strength. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports on his eight years as pope.
Monsignor Oscar Sanchez of Mexico, who was at the Vatican for the announcement, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying that the cardinals “remained shocked and were looking at each other.”
President Barack Obama said in a statement that he and first lady Michelle Obama “warmly remember our meeting with the Holy Father in 2009, and I have appreciated our work together over these last four years.”
Canon law says that the pope may relinquish his office provided that the decision is “made freely and properly manifested” — language to which Benedict appeared to allude in his statement.
Because there is no one in the church higher than the pope to accept a resignation, the renouncement is technically an abdication.
The last pope universally recognized to have abdicated was Celestine V, who was elected in July 1294 and gave up the job five months later after feeling that he was being manipulated by the King of Sicily and Naples. He was declared a saint in 1313.
During a period of division known as the Great Western Schism, from 1378 to 1415, there were three rival claimants to the papacy. The legitimate pope, Gregory XII, abdicated to make way for an undisputed pope.
Benedict’s abdication clears the way for the College of Cardinals to gather at the Vatican to elect a successor, a process in which the United States is expected to have unprecedented sway.
The U.S. will have 11 votes, almost 10 percent of the electorate and the second-largest voting bloc behind Italy, which will have 28 votes. Germany, the home country of the current pope, will have six.
It appears highly unlikely that an American will be elected Benedict’s successor. Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is considered a longshot for the job.
The archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, explains the "mixed emotions" he feels about the news that Pope Benedict XVI will resign on February 28, saying he feels a "special bond" with the pope.
Among the cardinals mentioned as possible successors are Angelo Scola of Italy, Peter Turkson of Ghana, Marc Ouellet of Canada and Francis Arinze of Nigeria and Christoph Schoenborn of Austria.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, told reporters that the cardinals would be looking for an “articulate voice” for the church and would keep in mind Benedict’s tradition.
“He has called all of us to focus on the spiritual mission of the church, proclaim the gospel and once again begin this personal relationship all of us are capable of having with God back to the foreground,” he told reporters at St. Matthew’s Cathedral.
Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was elected April 19, 2005. He was the 265th pope and the successor to John Paul II, who had served since 1978 and was wildly popular among the faithful.
Born in 1927, he had been conscripted into the Hitler Youth during World War II, but he never joined the Nazi Party, and his family opposed the regime of Adolf Hitler, Reuters reported.
Ratzinger, before being elevated to pope, headed the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees church doctrine. His strict approach to theology earned him the nickname “God’s Rottweiler.”
NBC New Vatican analyst George Weigel gives his thoughts on Pope Benedict XVI's announcement of his resignation, and explains how a new pope will be selected.
He sought to rekindle the faith of Catholics and bring them closer to the teachings of the church. He worried that too many had strayed, and said in 2005 that the parts of the world suffered from “a strange forgetfulness of God.”
During Benedict’s papacy, thousands of people came forward to report that priests had raped or molested them as children and that bishops had covered it up.
It was Benedict’s old office that dealt with abuse cases, yet Benedict never admitted failure himself or of the Vatican, and never punished bishops who ignored or covered up the abuse.
“He could go around and minister to victims, which he did, and I think that was a brave and profound thing to do, but he couldn’t change the definitive elements of the Catholic Church that enable abuse,” said Michael D’Antonio, author of “Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal.”
“He would have had to pick up the church and drag it into the 21st century, but you know he could have,” he said. “He might have died trying, the stress of that might have been even more profound, he would have faced tremendous intrigue and opposition but I suspect that instead he may go down in history as a caretaker, an interpersonally kind pastor who made no mark when he had the chance to.”
Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League, said that Benedict had tackled the abuse problem much more aggressively than John Paul II, who he said had let the issue languish.
“Nobody clearly did more to counter this problem in the Catholic Church” than Benedict, Donahue said. “I think history will treat him very well in terms of dealing with the problem.”
Benedict continued the outreach to Jews of his predecessor, John Paul II, and was the second pope to enter a synagogue. His relationship with Muslims, however, was much more complex.
He generated outrage among Muslims when, in 2006, he gave a speech in Germany and quoted a Byzantine emperor who had characterized some of the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings “as evil and inhuman.”
Benedict also stirred an uproar in 2009 when, en route to Africa and discussing the AIDS epidemic with reporters, he said that the distribution of condoms “increases the problem” rather than preventing the spread of the disease.
A year later, in an interview, he said that a male prostitute who used a condom to avoid passing HIV to his partner might be taking a step toward more responsible sexuality.
James Salt, executive director of Catholics United, which claims 40,000 members and wants the church to focus more on social justice and poverty, praised the abdication as a “sign of humility from the aging Holy Father” and encouraged the church to reflect on the “challenges of this papacy.”
He suggested that the church open itself to a pope from Latin America or Africa.
Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Look back at his life from childhood through his papacy.
NBC News staff writer Miranda Leitsinger, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related:
'Heavy heart but complete understanding': Pope's resignation stuns leadership
Archbishop Dolan of New York: I'm startled, anxious at pope's resignation
From prisoner of war to pontiff: A timeline of Benedict XVI's life
Leave a Comment:
All of you Catholics can come over to my house next Sunday and we can all NOT go to church together.......
What? What are you you trying to say?
Once he heard Obama and Sandra Fluke speak at the DNC, he became violently ill and said "enough of this crap boys, next man up". Thats a loose translation from my memory of four years of Latin in Catholic Schools.
I think the next pope is supposed to be the last pope. At least that is what i've read about . Some prophesy about the next pope bringing the tribulation period. Anybody heard this also? Just saying.
Lots of "stuff" out there. No one knows.
Wow, you are teasing us with more end-of-the world speculation? Let's see, I was told that the world would absolutely end in 1983, according to ancient Central-American texts. Then, almost every year after that one, some religious authority would make the claim that this coming year was really-really-really the year the world would really end. After 30 years of this crapola, you can imagine that I am quite tired of this by now.
Rooster,
Your feelings are understandable. Any Christian knows that no one knows when the end will come. The signs mentioned in the Bible are always around. I think it is a way of saying, "Always be ready".
Ann end for any of us could be at any time.
And according to the Mayans, we all died last year.
The end of the world occurred when Lady Gaga rose to prominence...most just don't know it yet.
Look up The Great Disappointment.
This end-times nonsense has always been around. Every generation thinks it's the ONE and chosen. All rubbish. If there is an end, we will ourselves be its author and finisher, all the while hearing the shrill accusations of the brainwashed followers screeching "See? WE told you so!!!"
Rapture, or whatever fable you want to call it, is the ultimate cop-out. It allows us to escape responsibility for making the world a better place by supposing that if we all just be quiet and "meek," we will get to go live in paradise forever, after we are dead. Thus, the thieves and oppressors get to keep on persecuting and pillaging at will.
How convenient for the privileged few...
And once again we see the overuse of superlatives by the MSM, with Matt Lauer referring to this as an "unprecedented" event, then turning right around and telling us that a pope abdicated in 1280. So this is then, in fact, NOT an unprecedented event.
Going almost a thousand years between resignations is very close to unprecedented.
Well, 700 years, anyway.
As an athiest, I'm not personally affected, but I'm sorry if this resignation is sad for Catholics. Hopefully he still has many years left and can spend them in peace. I hope you are pleased/happy with Pope Benedict's successor.
Take care, everyone :)
Benedict deserves jail time, not peace.
Stinkleton,
Thanks for your comment. He will still be involved just not at nearly the level as he has been. He has been an ok Pope. Anyone who had to immediately follow John Paul II had a hard act to follow,.
S.,
Polite post, Thank You, gold star.
Wine, chocolate and visits to Fiji on a pope retirement yacht?
Good riddance to the old, white Nazi in the long, flowing dress. My guess is that he is resigning right before the next huge pedophile scandal.
You deserve jail time for slander. But then again, you opinion is irrelevant. Never mind.
@NC, I think madge has Catholic-envy. Just overlook her juvenile comments.
farmall,
I expect that you are right. But a anyone can join. A person just has to "do it".
I agree, NC. Luckily, I was born into it.
NC I condemn YOU, Your Pope, his Pedophile Pimps Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Bernard Law, Justin Rigali, Roger Mahoney and all the rest of these low life scum who covered up the rape of us children. I condemn all of you to hell just like I condemn all Parishioners of the Roman Catholic Church who do not stand up and demand all of these Pedophile Pervert Scum resign and submit to prosecution for their crimes against humanity. I will bet a million dollars you were cheering on Jerry Sandusky being prosecuted, but I do not hear you saying these scum should be prosecuted for their crimes right? Oh because they are some supposed Holy @!$%#s they do not deserve to be called out for their crimes???
I wonder if you had a son or a daughter who was raped by a priest or a nun and had to deal with the horrors we victims/survivors have had to deal with, you would be kissing the Popes ass like you do.
NC,
It's NOT slander because he was a Nazi and he does wear a "white flowing dress." as to the part about resigning just before the next big pedophile scandal, it was stated as "my guess is". Slander must be stated as a fact, not an opinion.
Actually, you're both wrong. In print, it's libel. Slander is spoken.
Something is up. Somebody knows something and he has to step down because of it.
Agreed. Watch for a pedophile scandal to erupt in Africa or Latin America in the next 30-60 days.
It is called age.
Didnt stop any other past popes till about 1415 in which another pope resigned(his name ecapes me sorry) point is they all died then resigned.
Catholic haters are in rare form today. Pretty pitiful. Get a life. I will pray for you. (I am not Catholic but as a decent person I respect their views)
Save your breath. Your BuyBull God was missing in action during the Holocaust, so His credibility is shot. But hey, you had a Nazi Pope, so it's all good.
Another, No one hates Catholics, we just hate what they have done to children in hundrdes of countries for decades. So I guess you condone the molestation and raping of children by priests and no arrests being made to protect the institution?
How do you defend the indefensible?
Wow Madge, have much resentment. Take your meds.....it'll be ok.
Mage,
The Catholic Church saved more Jews during WWIi than any other entity in the world.
babina,
What happened was awful just as it is awful in every organization that deals with children.
No arrests? Can you not read? Or are you just hateful? You need to stop. It will destroy you.
NC-- Wrong. The United States and Allied nations saved more Jews than any other entity in the world. Their destruction of the Nazi war machine saved countless millions worldwide from extermination. In fact, the Vatican facilitated the escape of many Nazi Party members to S. America and other destinations, to escape justice.
Really AnotherMiddleClass. So I would guess you respect the following views too?
Cardinal Timothy Dolan upon learning that New York passed a same sex marriage law said he felt betrayed that New York would pass the law. Then he learned New York was going to end the statue of limitations of one year for child abuse. So Dolan spewed from his sewer hole:
Dolan also explained that he wanted to keep the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims to one-year, because if the church gets sued, "The perpetrators don’t suffer. There’s no burden on them. What suffers are the services and the ministries of the apostolates that we’re doing now. Because where does the money come from? So the bishops of 30 years ago that allegedly may have reassigned abusers, they don’t suffer. They’re dead. So the people that suffer are those who are being served right now by the church. We feel that’s a terribly unjust burden."
So do you agree with Dolan and his bull@!$%#?
Or how about when the Pope said during a Christmas Mass to his Bishops and other leaders of the RCC that: "Child Pornography is considered normal and that sex between an adult and a child is not evil"????
NC-492358
What a retarded piece of child molesting defender you are. Sure there have been some arrests in recent months, but this was all revealed in 2000. Your famous Cardinal Bernard Law escaped his arrest warrant because the Vatican took him and hid him out.
The Vatican has obstructed justice from the beginning.
They may feel they are untouchable, but guess what loser? I as a survivor of priest rape and torture will in fact be there when they are on their death beds, laughing at them as they finally realize the place called hell is going to be their eternal home and they will in fact be gang raped by the demons of hell for all eternity for their crimes of evil against us children.
Forced out by his minions.
How? Who?
'god' is an idiotic idea promoted by immoral people to control and pacify the weak minded. We really need to keep our children away from all this religious crap.
Are you a blood or Crip!!!
Homy - I agree completely. It's 2013 and we still have people following religions like it's the dark ages.
HomyDontLikeTheBuzz
'god' is an idiotic idea promoted by immoral people to control and pacify the weak minded. We really need to keep our children away from all this religious crap.
You know, "homey" I read what you said, and I am convinced that you are a perfect example of a "fool on earth". Please provide ONE shred of evidence that God doesn't exist, and that the concept is an idiotic idea promoted by immoral people to control and pacify the weak minded. Then yoou say we need to keep our children away from all this religious crap. If you have children, I do feel sorry for them having a father (or mother) that is so insensitive to their needs that you would deny them even an opportunity to know God. If they decide that it is not a relationship for them ... that is one thing, but for you to deny them that (their opportunity for salvation) is abuse of the grandest order. It is like forcing them to live in squalor and pain for their entire lives. You as a parent have an obligation to provide all you can for them, and allow them to make a decision when the time is appropriate. If you decide for them about a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then you had better hope that you are right. You will be judged accordingly when your time comes. You may be convinced that you are right, but like many others in this world ... you might not be. I know that you know everything for sure ... and I hope you do, because to decide that you will cast your children into hell for eternity without even a chance to find out for theirselves is truly the greatest sin of all. To deny them Jesus without even a chance to have that relationship is simply not fair to them. Do the right thing, if not for you, then for them at least.
Don - are you freaking kidding me? The concept of 'god' breaks every law of physics that we know of. If you come up with an idea such as a 'god' as a way to explain things then it's YOUR responsibility to provide some evidence that this 'god' exists. There is no such evidence. Nothing. Nada. It goes against every observation we've ever made and it goes against every logical conclusion you could ever come to based on all our observations. Deny my kids 'jesus'? ... yes, and I try to keep them away from every other child molester as well.
Well let's see if out of all the possible new replacements if they can find someone who doesn't have an unfortunate incident in their past like being a member of the Hitler youth for instance.
A Positive sign for a congregation stuck in the past for over 200 years
Oh. how is that? Only 200 years?
Where do I apply for this job? I may not have the qualifications. I don't do robe things.
This was expected, as he was getting blasted left and right. Even his butler did him in.
He could have stayed until he died if he wanted to, but, his minions just couldn't afford him as pope anymore.
Good riddance. Ratzinger was one of the enforcers, one of the architects and party faithful who supported, planned and executed the pattern and practice of protecting child abusing priests, moving them around to a myriad of churches where they found new victims to abuse. For more than 60 years.....when he's out, throw him in jail.
Wait and see who the next one will be....
It is what it is. He's sick. Not a Catholic but it was organized religion that brought about the transition from heathen to scholarship. Before, it was all out monkey wars and your life expectancy was slim since roaming bands of Barons hunted and killed for sport and then carved up your country. It was religion that brought about civility and order, which without it there would be mass murder. Religion, was the foundation for and of the law. Religion did the same but enforce the law of the land upon Kings. Later, the Magna Carta brought about the summation of liberal thought through representation in numbers against a King. Religion good and bad was social order that gave us the rights we now take for granite. If religion ceased to exist then excess would prevail and social order would crumble into the worst.
You need a history lesson STAT.
the catholics are the heathens you moron.
sanity,
So do you need a history lesson. It is what you THINK you know about the Catholic Church that you do not like.
limey,
Oh? How are the Catholics heathens? Can you explain?
I know that some people really hate the catholic church, but please don't rewrite history.
During the 'dark ages' the catholic monasteries did a creditable job of retaining knowledge until better times.
The priests were for hundreds of years, the few, if not the only people that could read and write in some areas. THEY were the educated ones.
It astounds me how people try to rewrite history in their favor. The so called "heathens" in some areas were cultured and advanced peoples. It was the Catholics who came barging in with their convert or die philosophy, killing scores of people for not bowing down to their beliefs. It's well documented that for some time the Catholics were no better behaved in some regions than the people they had condemned.
I hope you're not referring to those advanced & cultured people of Central America, it just rips your heart out to think about those happy funny loving people having to change religion.
Try looking at the culture of the Norman's and Celts. They were not ignorant animals running around in mud banging sticks together. Heck, the Roman empire before the spread of Christianity had innovations that took years to catch on. The Vikings were hands above some of the best ship builders of their time. The original contention that without religion there would be mass murder is conveniently skipping over such events at the Crusades, which amounted to nothing more than cold blooded murder in the name of the Christian god. While a lot of good has probably come from the Catholic religion, there's been a lot of bad to go with it, and you simply cannot pick and choose what you want to remember.
As you have just done.
this guy stood by and watched as his priests raped small children, when are we going to realise that the catholic church is a criminal enterprise run by perverts, it's a shame that they took the death of some poor guy a couple of thousand years ago and turned it into the largest criminal organisation on the planet, and we're still buying it, incredible.
limey,
No, he didn't.
NC,
But he knew and didn't do anything except buy Prada shoes.
He reached his term limit. I hope the idea spreads to our entrenched politicians. I also hope the church selects a younger, better-thinking replacement. Dolan from New York would be outstanding.
is he the archbishop of new york?
He would be good but it is doubtful that an American will be Pope.
yes, mike vietvet. and, NC I'm not so sure. I live in a very catholic part of Europe, and from the comments I have been hearing on the subject here, they are ready for an American. Dolan, for all I can tell, is truly a special individual.
Wonder if the papers his butler found may have some clues about the Popes own past pedophilia? Could be since higher ranking Catholics are pretty much infamous for it. Maybe he wanted to resign before he got cold busted, and his reasoning for "pardoning" the butler. Religion is twisted, and the Pope isn't above any other human being of possible past horrible nasty things against children. He "no longer has the strength....". Maybe not the strength for a criminal trial.
Also, never ever trust "men" who wear dresses, dresses with frilly lace and silly hats.
Chuck,
You have evidence about him being a pedophile? Or is that just being hateful?
NC you really love sticking up for pedophiles don't you? I would hazard to guess as much as you defend these pedophile pimps you are a pedophile yourself, because in my book, only fellow pedophiles defend pedophiles.
Isn't this the Pope that was in the Hitler youth?
Yep.
Many kids were in the Hitler Youth in Germany at that time.
All of them, I think.
Up next, Pope Peter II, false prophet to the Anti-Christ.
Yeah, read my post 28. Eerrie!!!
John,
Please explain your comment. It makes no sense.
John is talking about a prophecy from Saint. Malachy. He makes sense if you are up on end times prophecy. Look it up. Its really incredible.
I think you mean Malarkey.
Oh Ya right the Pope Gives a three week notice !!! LOL, SEE YA, !! ALI Krishna, !! SAY La vi, !! Now lets hear the TRUE reason the old poop is leaving. Its amazing how this religion has lost millions of followers and churches are being torn down or sold all over and now the poop leaves
Bob,
Strange, it is still the largest single religion in the world. Where do you get your information; Bob'sDerriere.com?
London bridge is falling down !!! Open your ignorant eyes
Bye Poop
We have been blessed by the leadership of his holiness. May God bless and keep you.
here have some more kool-aid.
Really Al? Just what has his "holiness" done for the world? How about some examples since I can't think of one thing he's done.
End time watchers, this is another sign of the end. Saint Malachy said, there's only one more Pope before the return of Jesus Christ. So Excited!
"Malarky" is right. Is that your real name?
seems like something our 70 and 80 year old congressmen and senators should be thinking of.
YES!!!!!!!