Experts are drafting proposed new laws on the status of a retired pope. In the 728 years that have passed since St Celestine established this legal precedent, the right of a pope to resign remains ensured in church law. The law is not very detailed, saying only that the decision must be made freely and Read more
Emeritus Pope Benedict wasn’t pressured to step down, says Father Federico Lombardi. Lombardi, who was Benedict’s spokesman, denied Italian Archbishop Luigi Negri’s claim that Benedict was forced to resign. However according to Negri, Benedict’s resignation was as a result of “tremendous pressure” being put upon him. The Obama administration has been implicated in the pressures Read more
Pope Benedict’s last words and gestures are worth noting. Take four of his last decisions, for example. 1) Nine months after the sacking of the President of the scandal-ridden Vatican bank, he appoints a new President: a lay man and a non-Italian. 2) He appoints a man of promise to a diplomatic post in a Read more
Pope Benedict XVI’s final trip as pope was a 15-minute helicopter ride from the Vatican to the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo. He was joined in the Italian government chopper by his personal secretary and assistant secretary, his personal physician, his new valet and an official of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household. Joining Read more
Pope Benedict has done a ‘good enough’ job, according to Tim Duckworth, a Marist priest in Rome. Talking from the Vatican to Garth Bray on TVNZ Breakfast, Fr Duckworth qualified his remarks by saying he didn’t think it would be an easy job. Echoing Benedict’s comments in his final message, that whoever succeeds him “no Read more
I’ve just returned from St Peter’s Square where I was packed in shoulder-to- shoulder with 150,000 others for Benedict’s final general audience. Saying farewell to a Pope who hasn’t actually died makes this experience of farewell a rather unusual one – at least it hasn’t happened for centuries. Benedict has said clearly that he will Read more
Pope Benedict XVI held his final general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, telling tens of thousands of people he had known “moments of joy and light but also moments that were not easy” when “the Lord seemed to be sleeping.” In an unusually personal address, the pope cited the biblical voyage of Jesus and Read more
For the very last time Benedict XVI rode the Popemobile to greet the pilgrims gathered for the general audience at St. Peter’s Square. In bright winter sunshine, the 85-year-old German Pope was driven around St Peter’s Square in a white Mercedes jeep. During the course of the journey, the frail Pope Benedict waved to the Read more
Cardinal George Pell, has levelled some surprising criticism at Pope Benedict, reports Australia’s Seven News. Pell criticised the outgoing Pope, saying that despite being a great theologian and a brilliant teacher, governance and government wasn’t his strong point. “He’s got to know his theology, but I think I’d prefer… someone who can lead the church Read more
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I offer a warm and affectionate greeting to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors who have joined me for this, my last General Audience. Like Saint Paul, whose words we heard earlier, my heart is filled with thanksgiving to God who ever watches over his Church and her growth in faith and Read more