I think this Pope was a placeholder and planned to retire from the start.

[onehandle]

Last edited Mon Feb 11, 2013, 01:08 PM - Edit history (2)

He never quite felt right to most Catholics. Many were expecting a Latin American or an African Pope. There were more than one 'progressive' Cardinals in the running last time.

Pope John Paul II had big pope slippers to fill.

Hoping for a change for the better.

On edit: Chris Matthews on Now with Alex Wagner, agrees with me somewhat, that this was planned. But he thinks a hand picked successor may come in. Not good.

[Dpm12]

1. Interesting note

he will be only the third pope to abdicate (resign) his post after Pope Benedict IX and Pope Celestine V.

[RZM]

3. I also thought it was interesting that you had two non-Italians in a row

If I'm not mistaken, I think you have to go all the way back to the Avignon period in the 1300s to find another example of that. And even then you're just dealing with Frenchmen. To find two non-Italians in a row who weren't both French I believe you have to go back even further.

[RZM]

2. I don't know. That's certainly possible

Not a Catholic myself, but I kind of follow this stuff now and then (I actually happen to be reading a book about the Papacy right now - 'Saints and Sinners' by Eamon Duffy).

But as I understood it, the top crew wanted somebody older - John Paul II was in there for 27 years and I don't think the lifers in the Vatican wanted another man to dominate the institution for decades. Also, Joey Ratz was known for being rather conservative and in any institution (let alone one as ossified as the Papacy), the safe, status-quo choice is often preferable to an unknown quantity or potential reformer.

Will be very interesting this time around. If I had to guess, I don't think we'll see an African or Latin American pope just yet. But that day is probably coming within the next generation or so.

[grantcart]

4. I doubt it. If you are familiar with the ongoing litigation in the US then

you are aware that different dioceses are facing severe financial problems paying out huge awards.

Several facing bankruptcy.

They have had to sell off vast amounts of land and real estate to pay for the judgements.

In the meantime good law abiding Catholics are asked to increase their normal donations to help pay the cost.

I believe that with the current Pope's direct ties to the cover up getting more and more documented that the Church realised they were facing two insurmountable problems:

1) The possibility of a Pope being labelled a co-conspirator in the cover up

2) Increased difficulty in raising money to pay off claims as Catholics had been told "the worst is behind us".

They desparately need someone who has absolutely no connection to the world wide scandal.