Apparently this is the day that everyone decided to run their pre-written obituaries, rather than wait for the man to die. They read a little strangely, given that his ministry doesn't actually end until the end of the month.
I won't presume to judge a man of such accomplishments, but it is clear that he is doing what he thinks is right. We can only hope the College of Cardinals will choose as well again.
7 comments:
The meme is "Troubled Church." Every article that I have read about it today includes it.
The worse, then, that it was in the pre-written obituaries. That was to be the story no matter what the facts of the day.
It is is another media freak out over nothing.
Well, not nothing. This is the first time on six centuries that this has happened. It's an interesting story.
My favorite comment came from Ace who said "The Pope Is Stepping Down, Now The Media Gets To Continually Suggest The New Pope Not Follow Catholic Doctrine".
And I've already seen some of my more liberal friends commenting about how they hope the CoC picks a more "understanding" Pope. I neglected to inform them that whoever is picked is still going to support Catholic doctrine, not theirs.
A Fox News op-ed had another take on the abdication. Their view centered on the fact that he was a frail old man when he was elected Pope and the premise that he was not his predecessor--and so he had no hope of getting anything done.
Eric Hines
I was never under the impression he was chosen as Pontiff to "get stuff done". I believe he was intentionally chosen to be Pope because he would be a placeholder. A "cooling off period" after John Paul II. No one expected Benedict to shake up the Church, and that was as planned. "No hope of getting anything done?" Sounds to me like the College of Cardinals got exactly what they planned on.
But he had an agenda on which he worked very hard.
- unite the conservative and progressive wings of the Catholic Church
- expand the Church's foothold in Asia and Africa.
- bring about (or even make progress on) ecumenical understanding with other major faiths
That his agenda wasn't the CoC's, and couldn't become it, may have added to his sense of "time to leave." He may not have been selected to get stuff done, but he seems to have tried, anyway.
Eric Hines
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