The news of the Pope’s decision to resign was received by Auckland Catholics with sadness, but also with a genuine admiration for the boldness of this initiative, clearly a decision that was made after a great deal of prayer and reflection on the part of Pope Benedict.
The whole Catholic world is in a state of shock at this announcement because it came without warning. The responsibilities and workload of the papacy is an enormous burden, and it seems that Pope Benedict, courageously, and from deep respect for the Petrine office, feels that diminishing strength of mind and body no longer allows him to fulfil his duties as he would wish.
His short pontificate of eight years has seen not only a workload of temporal and spiritual responsibilities that would be daunting for a man half his age, but also a concentration of major issues and problems that are facing the Church.
Not least of these is the sexual abuse scandal which he largely inherited; his anguished and frustrated attempts to have the break-away “traditionalist” movement, the St Pius X Society, become reconciled with mainstream Catholicism; the plight of Catholics (and Christians generally) in many parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East and China; as well as the unprecedented moral, medical and social changes that are taking place largely in Western society. Continue reading