DAVID ADAMS reports…
Pope Benedict XVI has announced his resignation on the grounds of failing health, becoming the first pontiff in almost 600 years to step down as head of the Roman Catholic Church.
In a surprise announcement, the 85-year-old, spiritual leader of the world’s estimated 1.2 billion Catholics, said he will step down at the end of the month.
“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,” he reportedly told a meeting at cardinals at the Vatican on Monday. |
“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,” he told a meeting of cardinals at the Vatican on Monday.
A new pope is expected to be in position by Easter Sunday following their election by the conclave of cardinals. Among those being mentioned as possible successors are Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson, Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada.
The German-born Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope in 2005 following the death of Pope John Paul II. His reign has been shaken by a series of child abuse scandals within the church in many countries around the world, including Australia.
He is the first pope to resign the office since Pope Gregory XII in 1415. Pope Gregory resigned in an attempt to end the schism between two rival popes.
Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, said the decision had come as a surprise. He thanked the Pope for his “years of devoted leadership and service” and his teaching. “Benedict has always loved the church and worked to do what was best for her,” he said.
Archbishop Denis Hart, chair of the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference, said millions of Catholics were “grateful for his holiness and teaching, and are encouraged by his gentle and loving service.”
“As he retires to a life of prayer for the Church, we remember with gratitude and prayer his faithfulness to the call given him as Vicar of Christ and chief pastor of the universal Church.”
Meanwhile Tara Curlewis, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia, said in a statement that it was a time “to uphold the Pope’s health in prayer and also the Conclave as it convenes to elect the next pontiff.”
“Clearly it is from a place of prayer and discernment as well as his conviction as to the importance of every aspect of the church and particularly the importance of good leadership that has brought Pope Benedict XVI to this momentous decision,” she said.
“The mantle of leadership can weigh heavy on those to whom it is entrusted and it is never easy to lay it aside. I have much respect for the courage of the Holy Father and along with the church universal will pray for his health and his successor.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was among leaders of the church from around the world who paid tribute to the Pope, saying he held the office with “great dignity, insight and courage”.
Wishing him a blessed retirement, he said he and Anglicans around the world gave “thanks to God for a priestly life utterly dedicated, in word and deed, in prayer and in costly service, to following Christ”.
“He has laid before us something of the meaning of the Petrine ministry of building up the people of God to full maturity.”
Rev Dr Olav Fyske Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, said he had seen “with deep respect” how Pope Benedict XVI has “carried the responsibility and burdens of his ministry in his advanced age, in a very demanding time for the church”.
“Let us pray that God bless him in this moment and this phase of his life, and that God will guide and bless the Roman Catholic Church in a very important time of transition.”
Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe, secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance – who met Pope Benedict XVI on several occasions, said he appreciated the Pope’s “courage of ideas, even when they did not resonate with contemporary attitudes”.
“I was especially moved by his boldness in warning us of the dangers of moral relativism and the tyranny of self-centered ideologies,” he says.
