Pope Benedict XVI Announces Resignation
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Benedict XVI will be the first pope to resign in 600 years. (Catholic Church/Creative Commons)
The 85-year-old pope, who will become the first pontiff in 600 years to step down, announced the surprising news in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals. Benedict’s resignation allows the Vatican to hold a conclave to elect a new pope before Easter, which falls this year on March 31. The traditional nine days of mourning following the death of a pope would not apply.
More from Benedict’s announcement in English:
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
Benedict could have considerable influence over the choice of his successor, as he has hand-picked the College of the Cardinals, the papal electoral body that will select the next pope.
From the New York Times:
Vatican lore has it that cardinals tipped as front-runners in advance of the vote rarely triumph, and Vatican-watchers say there is no clear favorite among several potential contenders: Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan; Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, the archbishop of Vienna; and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian head of the Vatican’s office for bishops.
Benedict, who turns 86 in April, said he would devote his time to reflection and prayer after his resignation, according to CNN. He would also return to going by his previous name, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Benedict was elected the 265th pope on April 19, 2005 to succeed Pope John Paul II and was the first German to lead the church in half a millennium.
The last pope to resign was Gregory XII, whose departure in 1415 was part of a series of events that ended the Western Schism, a period in which two and then later three elected popes were vying for the papacy.
Read more Neon Tommy stories on Pope Benedict XVI here.
