The Pope is Resigning!

The Pope is resigning! Effective February 28, Pope Benedict XVI will be stepping down as Supreme Pontiff. What do you know, the Pope is resigning! In six hundred years, it is the first time since a Pontiff will not die while holding the job. What is the significance of this event? It this related to prophesy? One lady said to me last evening, this means that the world is coming to an end.



Pope Benedict XVI

People are making all sorts of assumptions! Among the ideas floating around are: there may be a scandal; something is going on behind the scenes; things are not as they seem; Popes do not resign, they die in office; they have another man who they can manipulate; he is not as out-going as Pope John Paul II. O my, don't be surprised if you hear that he is dead shortly.

There should be no comparison made between he and his predecessor--one man was a peoples' person and a world traveler. The other man is a scholar, and a serious-by-the-book Catholic. One felt that he could do nothing else after leaving the Pontiff's Office; while the other believed that because of his age and declining health, he should step down so that a younger and more vibrant man can fulfill the role of leading so massive a people.

As one Cardinal puts it, it takes a certain sense of humility to put pride and self-interests aside and focus on what is best for the Church. Looking at the whole thing, it must take some level of self-abasement to step from the spotlight back into "nothingness." Whatever may be the reason or reasons behind the Bishop of Rome’s resignation, it will be in the news for weeks, even months to come.

Before the words were dry on paper or the news out in the media, people were taking wagers as to who will be the next Pontiff. At the beginning of March they will convoke a conclave to select the next Pontiff. Until then, we will hear much more about the Pontiff’s resignation. What do people call him on March 1? Do they call him the ex-Pope? Or do they call him Cardinal Ratzinger? Since it has been a long, long time since a Pope resigned, I think they will deal with the issues as they present themselves—you are talking about the Catholic Church, y’all!