Pope Benedict XVI to 'resign' post

Source Al Jazeera

He will be the first head of the Catholic Church to resign in almost 600 years. The Vatican said his departure would leave the post temporarily vacant.

Yeah I never heard a religious leader resigns from his post. I am not talking about politicians..

I'm shocked. I didn't know you could even resign from the Papacy. I wonder what he got caught doing?

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism among competing papal claimants

I think he's just resigned from the Papacy, not the Catholic Church, he'll still be a priest. But then again, who knows, this is pretty unheard of!

Here's from the Guardian:

These are the main reasons the pope gives for his resignation in his statement this morning:

• His "advanced age" (he is 85) means he is no longer able to carry out all his tasks adequately.

• Both strength in mind and body are necessary for the job of pope, he says, and in the last few months such strength has deteriorated in him.

He also announced in the statement that he would renounce the office of Bishop of Rome at 8pm on 28 February.

He says a conclave will have to be convened to elect the new pope.

And he says he wishes to continue to serve the church "through a life dedicated to prayer".

Strictly personal. He is a human being.

Amen the end of child molestation

But the comments here clearly show the smeary characters of some of you.

for sure there is a huge reason behind his resignation.
well see later..

He said because of his age, physical and mental abilities, he felt no more adequate to perform the duties of a Pope. Very clear.

I wonder when the Saudi king resigns? But possibly he isn't man enough!

It is not about kingdom...it shows how much you know about kingdom and Papacy things..

he just said he will resign for his post not from his extra "curricular activities"

the kids n their parents will always remember him for his good deeds

britey what happened to the rest 264

Will he get a NOC? but he can still search for new jobs around the world:)

I'd say the politics in the Vatican are worse than those in the most corrupt country.
The real truth why he resigned will NEVER be public.

Yes Nom.. ur right.

remembered as the one who "allowed foreign workers " - he allowed didn't force but the Pope used force to show his skills LP ( that too small kids )

You mean they are atheists while bashing one religion? They are not atheists when their religion is under scrutiny?

being an atheist does not mean you have no opinion on things that are tangible such as religion which affects human society.

Theists talk about abstract concepts that cannot be proved, what we are talking about here is a man who has huge influence in the world and therefore should be challenged.

exactly cheru :)

now the kids are safe from leaving pope what about the new one is there any guarentee for the kids safety

QDC, I can't let you say such awful things about Latin.

From when the Pope started Tweeting:

Roberto Spataro, secretary of the Pontifical Academy for Latin Studies, which Benedict XVI founded last year, agreed, telling the Vatican's semi-official newspaper: "Twitter is a tool which requires rapid communication," he said. "In English you say 'the corruption of the best one is horrible'; in Latin, three words suffice: 'corrupt optima pessima'. It is a language which helps to think with precision and sobriety. And it has produced an exceptional heritage of science, knowledge and faith."

but that will hinder greatly the papal conclave.
now way for under the table deals and arrangements.

ACtually the Pope must have done something that even the Catholic Church could not tolerate. Probably had sex with an adult woman.

pretty unprecedented, but a wise decision. it is admirable that he is able to admit that he cannot fulfill his role properly anymore. much better than be a sitting senile pope where other people end up deciding things for him while waiting for him to die.

he's not as popular nor as charismatic as john paul 2 but he is a pretty intellectual person.

so what do we call him after that, pope dowager? does he retain his papal name benedict xvi or does he go back to being joseph ratzinger?

would be exciting to see how the politics would play out though. the process of selecting a pope is probably the only time the catholic church becomes democratic. or is it? we never know because it all happens in closed doors. will the jesuits come into power this time? will they finally get someone from the third world? or will they go italian again?

Goj...do you really think that he himself took that decision....lol

You are part of religious teaching..I think your religion not teaching you...

The Vatican in particular has many sins to answer for and should be held accountable for their crimes against humanity. Here is a man who was made pope who was a member of the hitler youth and covered up child abuse in the church, even going so far as to move a paedophile to another parish because of the crimes he committed. If that is something you want to defend shame on you.

Hearsay is not logical until proven...you are doomed with your reasons...you have irrational thinking.

for an atheist you are terribly narrow-minded. you do not have a right to demand, not even impose your opinions, to any changes in the church's stand on some issues like some government as you are not a member of it, do not pay taxes to it and you don't even believe in it.

of course these crimes should never be defended but it's not as if he started it all when he became pope. it's been happening for centuries and yes, he did not do enough to solve the problem. but he did not pretend that it did not exist either. he has apologized for them. yes, more needs to be done. but does anyone honestly think he can solve it in just a few years when it is a big flaw in the institution itself? that is not reason enough to judge him as a bad person imo.

the most fascinating thing about the catholic church is that it is a living, breathing human institution. it has imperfections and is made up of imperfect beings like the rest of humanity. it reflects the best and the worst of human nature, all the while attempting to go against the laws of human nature as well. just looking at how colorful and mysterious the politics within the vatican are makes it so interesting. they do recognize and apologize for the mistakes they have committed, even if it takes hundreds of years for them to do so in some cases. like acknowledging that the earth is indeed round, apologizing for the inquisition, even acknowledging evolution in its own ways. not all religions do that.

his opinion, his action. so why bother>

To all the staunch Catholics out there....what QDC is saying is true. It has been proven, it has been publicized.
It is NOT gossip, those are proven crimes that have been committed by catholic priests and the Vatican has tried, and somewhat succeeded, to cover them up.
Now, the crimes the Vatican has committed...don't even get me started..:(

They ask for evidence. When he was a cardinal he was in charge of investigating these cases and decided to do nothing as it would be damaging to the church. They is also a letter signed by him as a cardinal moving a paedophile preist to another area after committing chld abuse over many years and acknowledging the evidence against him.

The cover up in the Catholic Church globally is well documented from Ireland to the US to the Philippinees and pretty much every where they operate their company.

No I don't pay taxes to the Catholic Church but when they start committing serious crimes I will,not stay silent.

is not practice in CAtholics! With your words, I would presume you are a Muslim?

Some people are so sensitive, I'm called anti Muslim, anti Indian, anti Filipino, anti Scottish and anti anything if I say something against their beloved people or ideas!

Apparently just having an opinion is a crime in the eyes of these opponents of free speech. However most are babies and only express their outrage on QL.

Of course they have a right to be offended but they have no right to never be offended but something in this world.

not a staunch catholic, but is not believing in same sex marriage a serious crime? why impose your standards on others? for someone who's not supposed to care, he sure meddles too much.

but really, why all this hate on the catholic church like it's the only human institution that does wrong? yes, it is terribly corrupt and they did commit serious crimes against humanity, but they have done a lot of good too. and christians have been persecuted in the early days, and some still happen these days. but no one seems to care about that here.

the pope is only human, not god. he does make mistakes. people shouldn't expect too much.

"ACtually the Pope must have done something that even the Catholic Church could not tolerate. Probably had sex with an adult woman."

"He just wants to spend more time with other people's grandchildren."

can anyone prove these as facts from someone who's so obsessed with facts?

well you do come across as someone with a holier than thou attitude. which some people here (okay, me) may find irritating.

nope, the sex abuse scandals are not small mistakes. and they have done far worse things in the world. not the church nor the faith itself, but the people who run and are part of it

Wirehead, who are the people who run the church if not the church?
IMHO, they ARE the Church, they represent the faith.

Moderators why is this not in the Religious Forum? Please do the needful :)

wirehead, IMHO, there is a difference between THE CHURCH, and the community. The Church is a representative of the faith, the community are the 'faithful", they do not , as a first instance,represent the faith, but the faithful, the community.
Therefore, IMHO, THE CHURCH has in the first instance responsibility towards the reputation of the faith.
Th faithful, the community, has responsibility towards the group, their actions and deeds.
THE CHURCH is the umbrella, an authority the faithful can turn to.Also an authority that needs to keep the faithful on the right track in the faith.
Now, if THE CHURCH, like in this case and so very many others, messes up, THEY are fully responsible for the reputation of the faith. THEY are the leaders in the first instance. If the faithful mess up, then in the first instance they are responsible themselves, then, if the problems do not get solved, THE CHURCH, as the umbrella needs to step in. which is pretty useless if they are making themselves a laughing stock....

first and foremost, a church is a community. a church is not one without its faithful. at least that's what was taught to me since i was six years old.

what you are referring to is the church hierarchy, with all its complicated layers and levels of responsibility.

your opinion on its definition obviously varies, so let's leave it at that

and yeah, this discussion is definitely more interesting than the doomsday prophecies that have been appearing on my facebook wall since the pope announced his resignation.