Many in Germany haven’t always had an easy relationship with the conservative-minded Pope Benedict XVI, but most on Monday praised their countryman’s courage in deciding to step down from his position amid failing health.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Protestant, said that the 85-year-old pope’s decision that he was no longer fit enough to continue in the job “earns my very highest respect.”
“In our time of ever-lengthening life, many people will be able to understand how the pope as well has to deal with the burdens of aging,” she told reporters in Berlin. Continue reading