Pope Benedict XVI’s Renunciation of the Petrine Office
Feb 11th, 2013 | By Barrett Turner | Category: Blog PostsToday the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, announced his renunciation of the Petrine office effective at the end of February, 2013. You may listen to Benedict read his announcement in Latin at the bottom of the link above. You may also find here the English translation of Cardinal Sodano’s response as seen in the video.
This rare move of a pope renouncing the Petrine office last occurred in the fifteenth century and before that in the thirteenth century.1 Gregory XII renounced the office of pope in 1417 to facilitate an end to the confusing years of the anti-popes known as the Great Western Schism. In 1294 Pope St. Celestine V, after only a few months in office, wished to return to his former life of hermitage and renounced the bishopric of Rome. Pope Benedict has ruled the Church for a longer period of nearly eight years, having been elected in April 2005. His renunciation comes not to end a controversy but to retire due to ill health.
Canon law makes brief mention of this process. The current Code of Canon Law (1983) states
Can. 332 § 2. Si contingat ut Romanus Pontifex muneri suo renuntiet, ad validitatem requiritur ut renuntiatio libere fiat et rite manifestetur, non vero ut a quopiam acceptetur.
Can. 332 §2. If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns [renuntiet] his office, it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyone.
The reason why no one accepts the renunciation of the pope is that the pope is the Church’s supreme pastor and the president of the college of bishops. He is entrusted with the supreme care of souls. While he is brother to all the other bishops, he is also the successor of St. Peter, the one charged with confirming the faith of the brethren (Luke 22:32). There is no authority within the Church on earth higher than the pope. The decision must be free and deliberate. This is why Pope Benedict stressed in his announcement that he had made this decision for the good of the Church and only after a prolonged period of discernment of seeking the Lord’s will. Thus he said,
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.
It is no secret that the Holy Father’s health has been deteriorating of late. Aware of this possibility, Pope Benedict has made cryptic mentions in the past of the possibility of renunciation. For example, in a 2010 book-length interview with German journalist Peter Seewald, the Holy Father said,
If a Pope realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically, and spiritually capable of handling the duties of the office, then has a right and, under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.2
The Holy Father has been a constant inspiration for us as a man who has loved the Church so deeply and thoughtfully. He has spent himself in service to his flock, in his visits to various countries, his presence at World Youth Days, his constant teaching, and his care for the order of the Church. He has been at the helm of the Barque of Peter during some precarious times and has incurred the hatred of many who see in him and the Church all that is inhumane. Yet Pope Benedict made it clear that he would not resign because of difficulties: “One can resign at a peaceful moment or when one simply cannot go on. But one must not run away from danger and say that someone else should do it.”3 In this, he is blessed to share in the revulsion the world felt at the Lord Jesus, in despising his love and his teaching (see Acts 5:41). May Benedict depart this life in much joy, the joy of his Lord!
For many of us at Called to Communion who were still Protestant at the time, the election of Pope Benedict XVI and his subsequent reign held out the question, “Will that be my leader someday?” Perhaps we sensed something of the Holy Father’s solicitude for visible reunion of Christians, a concern which has led to, among other things, a warming of ties with the Orthodox Churches and the creation of the Anglican Ordinariate, through which Anglicans can return to full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining some distinctive liturgical elements of their tradition. Benedict himself announced this concern the day after his election when he said:
The current Successor [to St. Peter] assumes as his primary commitment that of working tirelessly towards the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of all Christ’s followers.
May the next Successor of St. Peter likewise continue the work of prayer and love and dialogue in the truth for the reunion of all Christians!
We of course are saddened that one of the greatest theological minds to hold the Petrine office is now leaving. He has given the Church so much, not least in his encyclicals and informal works on the life of Jesus of Nazareth, his work against relativistic conceptions of culture and politics, his freeing of the 1962 extraordinary form of the Mass, the Year of Faith currently underway in the Catholic Church, and much more.
We are sad that we will no longer have Benedict as our pope. Yet God guides the Church, and so we pray for Benedict’s successor and put our hope in the chief Shepherd, from whom all popes and bishops receive their authority and example.4 May He come and take His flock to himself after making her ready and after the full measure of the nations have found their salvation in the Barque of St. Peter.
O God, eternal shepherd, who govern your flock with unfailing care, grant in your boundless fatherly love a pastor for your Church who will please you by his holiness and to us show watchful care. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Election of a Pope or a Bishop from the Roman Missal)
- It first occurred 1,778 years ago, when Pope St. Pontian resigned on 28 September 235. [↩]
- Light of the World (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2010), 30 [↩]
- Light of the World, 29 [↩]
- See 1 Peter 5:4 and John 21:15-19 [↩]
Dr. Scott Hahn just shared via Facebook this insight:
This is truly both a saddening and encouraging time. As one who is currently in the last stages of RCIA and a two and a half year journey into the Church, I very much looked forward to entering the Church under Pope Benedict’s pastorship. I remember watching Bl. Pope JP II’s funeral on TV and then Pope Benedict’s announcement of election. I love reading his books and watching him speak. I was able to attend one of his general audiences this past Fall in Rome and recieved his blessing. What an amazing Father and Pastor he has been to all Christians, Catholic or not. I pray God gives him many many more years of health so that he can rest, pray and continue to write great books and play wonderful music. God bless our Pope and may the protection of our Immaculate Mother be always with him and his successor.
Steven
[…] cannot go on. But one must not run away from danger and say that someone else should do it.”3 In this, he is blessed to share in the revulsion the world felt at the Lord Jesus, in despising […]
Cardinal Arinze, on Pope Benedict’s announcement:
From Cardinal Arinze above:
“The Holy Spirit does not go on Holidays!”
Makes me so glad to be Catholic. This is the opposite of ecclesial deism. Christ, and the Spirit of Christ — the Holy Spirit, never leaves His Church. Amen! Praise be Jesus Christ!
Thanks for posting that video, Bryan! Cardinal Arinze’s words are so clearly and wonderfully Christ-centered here, and if every Protestant and Catholic in the world could hear and pay close attention to that five minutes and ten seconds, I can only think that (among other good things) ecumenical dialogue would be truly helped.
Thanks be to God that the Holy Spirit is constantly at work for the unity of Christians around the world, for all of us, whether we are with or without the ability to access the internet! it is such a gift to ecumenical dialogue though, as this site bears daily witness!
Pope Benedict’s words at today’s General Audience:
Below is Vatican Radio’s translation [I corrected a couple translation errors] of Pope Benedict’s Catechesis for the General Audience today:
Pope Benedict’s homily at today’s Ash Wednesday Mass, Pope Benedict’s last public Mass:
At the conclusion of the Mass:
Followed by:
I will miss his humble, quiet and pious witness. His solid, intellectual and assuring leadership is something the Church truly needed, especially in these times of persecution. Pray God his successor may carry on in his footsteps.
On Thursday, February 14, Pope Benedict met with parish priests and clergy of the Diocese of Rome, to give an informal talk titled “The Second Vatican Council, as I saw it.” The video of the talk is below, followed by the English translation from Vatican Radio:
Below, from Vatican Radio, is the full text of Pope Benedict’s last General Audience (February 27).
Pope Benedict gave his final blessing today at his last General Audience. In the video below he chants the Lord’s Prayer in Latin with all the congregation, and then gives the blessing in Latin. I’ve included the Latin (and English translation) below.
Pope Benedict XVI: Sit nomen Domini benedictum. [Blessed be the name of the Lord.]
Response: Ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum. [Both now and forever.]
Pope Benedict XVI: Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini. [Our help is in the name of the Lord.]
Response: Qui fecit caelum et terram. [Who made heaven and earth.]
Pope Benedict XVI: Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus, + Pater, + et Filius, + et Spiritus Sanctus. [May almighty God bless you, + the Father, + and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.]
Response: Amen
Today, on the last day of his pontificate, Pope Benedict addressed the College of Cardinals in a farewell discourse, and promised his “unconditional reverence and obedience” to the next pope. The English translation below is from Vatican Radio.
I saw a news photo of the helicopter that carried Pope Benedict XVI to his new home, and it made me cry. The juxtaposition of a modern transport above an ancient locale made it surreal and final. I will miss him very much.
I had only started really investigating Catholicism just about a year ago and the first book I read by a Catholic theologian was “Jesus of Nazareth”…….I was blown away. Yesterday, I grabbed “Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures” from my local library. I pray he gets lots of time to pray, study and write.
Susan
Pope Benedict’s final public words as pope, from the balcony of Castel Gandolfo:
(source)