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Alright, enough religious debate. If you want to talk about Pope Benedict and what he specifically did or didn't do, go ahead. But no more general discussion on the merits or ills of the Catholic church or their history.
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According to an Italian news agency ANSA, Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Catholic religion is stepping down from office.
(Headline google-translated)
The Pope will leave 'from February 28. The announcement in Latin during the consistory for the canonization of the martyrs of Otranto.
The site is being smashed with hits right now, so it's super unstable and I'm unable to get more of the text. (www.ANSA.it)
This is interesting news to me - Im not a catholic, or even religious in any conventional ways, but I was under the impression that a Pope of the Catholic church could only be 'relieved of duty' by God himself (As in his death)?
A Pope stepping down is very very rare - The last case AFAIK, was in 1405, over 600 years ago, and in every case of this, there were some kind of scandal involved (In this particular case, several claimants to the office)
The article link in its full form is here - The site is impossible to reach at this moment though
EDIT - Loose translation of the statement from the Pope which was made in Latin:
"The Pope leaves the papacy from February 28. The announcement was made personally, in Latin, during the consistory for the canonization of the martyrs of Otranto. "A bolt from the blue." With these words, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano said the decision to leave the pontificate of Benedict XVI
The Pope explained to feel the weight of the assignment of the pope, he had long pondered this decision and taking it for the good of the Church.
The pope has shown Feb. 28 for the term of the papacy and demanded that refers to a conclave to elect a successor."
BBC article in english: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21411304
Exerpt:
"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 fulfil the ministry entrusted to me.
"For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is."
EDIT#2
I think we should keep the past sins/drama of the catholic church out of this thread - To some people, this news is of spiritual importance and a really important event, lets show our best behaviour guys!
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My guess is health issues, preventing him from fulfilling his duties.
A less serious guess would be that he grew a conscience.
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Just hope a more modern pope with less anti gay and anti condom ideas will replace him, but I don't have high hopes.
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Confirmed by the vatican through reuters, stating he no longer has the strength to fulfill his duties.
(there were already a lot of resignation rumors last year)
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Brace yourselves. Darth Ratzinger is going to reveal his true self and declare that he is a Sith Lord.
+ Show Spoiler +
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On February 11 2013 20:09 Xpace wrote:
A less serious guess would be that he grew a conscience.
HAHA!
According to a German newspaper he said "I don't have the strength left for this office"
source (German)
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so why doesnt god just give him strength to continue? Something is fishy here
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Good.
Hopefully they can elect someone who's actually serious about cleaning up the Vatican and moving forward instead of backward. Benedict's old fashioned rhetoric really has made the church look bad since he took office at least in my opinion.
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Darkforce = Pope = same person maybe?
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Wish for a more educated Pope next time.
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On February 11 2013 20:19 llIH wrote:
Wish for a more educated Pope next time.
Quite sure it won't be the case since if Ratzinger wasn't a PR expert his intellectual work was recognized and he's a really solid theologist. It just doesn't fit with communication, a lot of the mishaps happened because he was speaking to the public in the same way he'd speak with his peers.
For someone who was supposed to be a transparant pope he had some impact, and he didn't embody the worst of the catholic church by far. Still need a bit of cleaning regarding the inner administration but I doubt his successor will be braver on this matter.
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I wish it had to do with a kinda repentance for the thousands of cases of pedo allllllllll these last years, and not just that he's tired.
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At least he is reasonable enough to step down before his strenght fully deteriorates.
Wise decision!
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On February 11 2013 20:14 Bleak wrote:Brace yourselves. Darth Ratzinger is going to reveal his true self and declare that he is a Sith Lord. + Show Spoiler +http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmc6tR2V1Vc
That's one of the best palpatine/pope movies I've seen, thanks for sharing :D
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On February 11 2013 20:09 Zandar wrote:
Just hope a more modern pope with less anti gay and anti condom ideas will replace him, but I don't have high hopes.
If such and individual is to be produced, it certainly wont be found within the Vatican, the most corrupt nest of hypocrites, liars, pedophiles and smirking lickspittles on the face of the planet. Personally I vote for Ted Haggard, in the name of epic lulz.
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Really off topic here, but isn't it about time we stop using Roman numerals for good?
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France9034 Posts
This is quite big news. Indeed it's very uncommon to see this.
My guess is the scandals around the Vatican and the pope's butler... Though there could be a lot of reasons.
I don't believe it's linked to health issues...(iirc, John Paul II died while still being the pope...).
Seeing how this person is influent, I'd hope we could see someone more like JP II and less like Ratzinger.
(I'm not catholic, but still I can see how this has an impact on the world, and I hope the new pope end up being the nicest possible...)
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Wait why doesn't he just continue until he dies like every other Pope?
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On February 11 2013 20:40 Sephyr wrote:
Wait why doesn't he just continue until he dies like every other Pope?
Because he grew a conscience
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EPT
