Does anyone really think the Pope's resignation is about anything other than child abuse?

And that pushed him over the edge?

He's resigning because of the stress and old age. But the Stress is coming from the constant scandals, denial of rights and more and more people turning against the Church and the Pope. Its has to be stressful knowing you are helping to kill the Church which you have served most of your life.

he was personally involved in the coverup.

Only blindness induced by misplaced loyalty to the Catholic Church could prevent seeing the connection.

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As such he clearly had a role in providing the disgraced Cardinal Law with a cushy ceremonial position at the Vatican in 2004. There was even talk at the time of Ratzinger's elevation to Pope that it was a way to keep a lid on the Cardinal Law situation - as Pope it would be harder to raise questions about his role in the protection of Cardinal Law. So I do think there is a connection. Ratzinger is up to his neck in the pedophile scandal.

His involvement may not rise above his midsection.

The RCC is a huge church; the child abuse scandals have NOTHING to do with this.

There can be no question about that. Ratzinger basically whisked Law out of Boston and gave him sanctuary in the Vatican as a way of putting him beyond the reach of U.S. prosecutors and victims seeking answers.

Something else going on here.

before he became pope.

I think there has to be a connection between the pedophile scandal and his resignation. Seems very obvious to me.

John Paul II was the classic example - he was ailing for years, spend more of his final days in the hospital than not, and died of an extended illness in office.

Maladict's the first pope to resign in centuries.

Though I'm wondering if the real reason for his resignation is actually the financial scandal - he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

That would be a dark and depressing statement about the Roman Catholic Church and society in general - that while the church's systemic problems with priests RAPING CHILDREN wasn't enough to unseat him (even though Maladict himself was complicit in the Church's efforts to cover for these pedophile priests), messing with the money was.

And unicorns are playing in your back yard, right?

I was shocked when he was named pope.

he was named pope in part because so many people owed him favors for his participation in covering up child abuse?

I suppose that's a possibility.

But if it happens one figures there will be a big story in the next few months.

Bryant

n/t

The scandal has been around a few years now. I think . . . maybe there's a story coming out.

Bryant

problems and complicit in moving priests rather than defrocking them.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was guilty of child molestation as well.

I think he's getting sick.

if you don't see evidence that the pope is concerned, look around some more. there are lawsuits all over the place. he's been specifically named in several of them.

Popes serve until they die. It has generally been a lifetime appointment. They don't resign unless there is pressure coming from somewhere for them to resign.

and the Vatican Bank

At his age, I don't blame him

I think the man is gravely ill. Child abuse might be part of it, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out he has a terminal illness, or maybe he has been diagnosed with Alzheimers.

It's either leave or get killed. I do believe that Popes get assassinated when they make the rest of the clergy look bad, and the pedophile scandal really makes them look bad.

address problems like the child abuse scandal. I think that he is hoping to prevent the papacy from being in a Brezhnev-Andropov-Chernenko type leadership problem.

coverup. His elevation to Pope was compensation for services rendered. I truly believe that.

Because if you believe that I have a bridge to sell you.

The fact is, Johann Ratzinberger was named and documented as one of the people who personally protected pederasts.There is a great documentary making the rounds in HBO "mea maxima Culpa" that speels it out in clear detail.

He's 85 years old.

It's about the child abuse.

his altar boys

- as that was going on long before he became Pope. I think it has to do with his age and health. Can't be an easy job and kudo's to him for breaking with tradition and standing down when he knows he can no longer do the job.

Health problems can wait till after Easter.....

My theory would be a dark and depressing statement about the Church and society in general.

Maladict might have gotten away with covering for priests that were raping children...

...but when he was caught stealing or defrauding money from powerful people and organizations, that did him in.

I think they know something involving this jackal is about to go public and they don't want it to be the current Pope that's named.

Just a guess of course.

This documentary has JUST premiered on HBO, and it pretty much points the finger at Ratzinger as being directly involved with suppressing all info about priests abusing children. The timing is interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mea_Maxima_Culpa:_Silence_in_the_House_of_God

of the reason, it is not, in my opinion, the only reason. Popes have survived scandals before and, the Prophecy of St. Malachi not withstanding, popes in the future will survive them as well. Nor do I think that Ratty Boy feels much institutional or personal remorse over the pedophile priests. However, the brouhaha that has resulted from the abuse and the Church's response to it has caused a great deal of stress among the ranks, including Benny. Given his age and his obviously indifferent state of health, I think he is telling the truth - that physically he is no longer up to the demands of the job.

Several posters have said that basically being pope is for life. In the past, I would have agreed with them and been somewhat shocked by this news. However, the demands of the papacy in the late 20th and now the 21st centuries have increased to the point to where the shoes of the fisherman require a younger, more able bodied successor to St. Peter. By way of example, for popes prior to Paul VI, travel did not mean jetting all over the world. Prior to Paul, papal travel meant staying in Europe. Sure Pius XII visited London in 1908 and was papal nuncio in Germany during the 20s, but even so, traveling was different and going by train or ship was slower, with less wear and tear on the body. Heck, it wasn't until Paul VI that a pope visited the US. Papal travel these days means long trips overseas with lots of hours on airplanes, and no matter how well-appointed the plane is, that type of travel takes a toll and the older the traveler is, the higher that toll is.

Having said all that, I also suspect that there are major health issues involved - possibly dementia or Alzheimer's - and neither Benny nor the Church officials want an aged and senile pope being photographed, filmed or recorded. They remember only too well J2P2's last days, which were not pretty.

Maybe the timing is just coincidental. If the pope did not know about Tedeschi's shady dealings, perhaps he should have.

intrigue involved with this. I don't think the child abuse scandals is even on the radar with this one.

Otherwise, it has to be the coverup of pedophiles in the church. For the reasons given - old age and ill health - it's simply not believable.

John Paul II was an immensely popular pope and none of the major contenders looked anywhere near as beloved by Catholics. So put in Benedict for a few years - he was one of the oldest popes to take office, so even if he didn't resign he'd be gone soon; besides, Benedict is/was such an ass that whoever follows him will be popular just by comparison.

So, Benedict got to be pope; the College of Cardinals got to pick another pope, which has got to be pretty exciting; and people will be happy with Pope NotBenedict...win/win.

Is there anyone who would possibly obtain the position of Pope who you would consider innocent in that matter?

Donations dropped like a rock when they put pope pedophile in. Plus whispers of shenanigans in the Vatican money wise started day 1. He's being forced out. We'll know by whom when they pick the next one.