A few
minutes before I left for work yesterday, as I was waiting for the
morning weather forecast, the bombshell hit. Pope Benedict had
announced he was resigning. At that time, I only heard the basics
they gave: the Pope had determined that, at age 85, he was no longer
fit to administer the See of Peter, the “Holy Bark” that is the
Church. They said the last time a pope resigned was over six-hundred
years ago. (Actually, 700 years since a precedent for Monday's
announcement – see the attached link.)
As I
walked to work a few minutes later, I knew that the rumor mill and
the late night comedy writers' rooms were already in a state of
hyperdrive. And in all fairness, could you expect them not to be?
This screams to be talked about, criticized, praised, dumbfounded by
– and yes, laughed at. After all, old popes don't retire, they
just slowly process away . . .
As
many of us know, priests retire, bishops retire, but popes don't.
Not normally anyway. Without knowing the history, I can only assume
that other pontiffs have struggled to keep it together through
illness and old age – perhaps even senility, I suppose.
It
should go without saying that many people – even reasonable types
that don't routinely sport aluminum pie plates as headwear – will
ask the question that begs: Why? And the one hot on its heels: Is
there some scandal beneath the surface that we don't know about?
Perhaps something to do with the ongoing child abuse crisis that's
rocked the Church in recent years? What good reason could there be?
a reasonable mind might ask. After all, if he really is retiring
merely because of age and growing infirmity, we need only look at his
predecessor to see how that can be graciously endured.
I
don't blame people for waiting for the other shoe of the fisherman to
drop – or even actively looking for it. You can bet that TMZ is
fervently on the case as we speak. I can also already hear the true
believers excoriating the cynical secular hordes for their accusatory
suspicions.
You
can count me as one of the true believers, though unless they really
take it too far, I won't get pissy on the nefarious agnostic nabobs
of negativity. Inquiring – and not necessarily unreasonable –
minds want to know, after all. In the words of one believer, “He
was hired by God. He can't quit!” I can't say I'm in total
agreement with the Pope or the Church on all things, but I do buy
into the See of Peter pretty much as advertised. And that's the very
reason that Benedict's announcement not only perplexes, but troubles
me.
I can
sympathize with his assessment of his own physical and mental
incapacity to do one of the hardest jobs on the planet. I concur
with panel members in the attached link in respecting his humility
for admitting it and admiring his generosity in thinking for
speculating that a new pope might better serve the Church. But
whatever the Holy Father's good motives may be, I do have to wonder
at the impact of this extraordinary act. It seems to me that it
gives the world plausible reason to speculate on the possibility
of a darker meaning behind it.
As of
this writing, I haven't had much chance to follow developments. Of
course, it was all over the news yesterday (Monday the 11th;
it's Tuesday evening now and I doubt I'll get this in before the
timestamp moves to Wednesday.) Besides the initial report, I've
since found that the Pope really has apparently gone downhill
physically in recent months. And today they reported that he'll live
his remaining days in a monk-like existence, praying and writing, in
a refurbished former convent on Vatican grounds.
I can
only join the rest of the faithful in praying that this is the right
decision for Pope Benedict (soon again, I might suppose, Father
Ratzinger) and the Church he's led for nearly the last eight years.
TJTM
