The worst pontiff of my lifetime announced today that he will step down citing health concerns. But one wonders if he is really abdicating, or simply absconding in an 
effort to escape potential ramifications over the awful child rape scandal that has plagued his papacy?
It just seems inconceivable, that absent scandal, a lifetime social climber would so easily give up power and the trappings of the Vatican, including his fancy Prada shoes and luxury Pope mobile. And, after all, the last time a Pope abdicated was 1415. Somehow, I don’t think Ratzinger wanted to break tradition so he had more time for golf.
According to a statement, Pope Benedict XI said:
“I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise” of his position as head of the world’s one billion Roman Catholics.
There are many of us wondering if the Pope elected to resign after he saw his future by watching the slow motion train-wreck that beset retired Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, who we now find even bilked the dead to pay the cost of sexual abuse lawsuits.
Pressed to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to settle clergy sex abuse lawsuits, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony turned to one group of Catholics whose faith could not be shaken: the dead.
Under his leadership in 2007, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles quietly appropriated $115 million from a cemetery maintenance fund and used it to help pay a landmark settlement with molestation victims.
While Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger led the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (aka The Inquisition), he oversaw reams of documents dealing with the sordid child rape scandals. He wasn’t just in the loop — he was the loop.
Perhaps, there are documents expected to surface that place him at the center of the awful cover-up? If his behavior came to be viewed as unseemly as that of Cardinal Mahony, it would have led to international pressure for him to resign. By leaving now, he can spare the institution embarrassment and humiliation — and have the easily distracted media focus on the future rather than the putrid past.
I’m actually disappointed that this Pope is resigning. He was an incredibly unsympathetic figure and seemed to personify the retrograde policies on gays and women that his papacy promoted with unrestrained gusto. It is better, in my opinion, to have a leader with the face of Dr. Evil, than a Pope like John Paul II, who was beloved for looking like he came from Central Casting. Pope Benedict was so personally unappealing, that it put his policies in the spotlight, and gave him little leeway in the pedophile priest disaster.
Given that the last two conservative popes stacked the deck and collected Cardinals who shared their backward views, there is little hope the new pontiff won’t share their sexism and homophobia. The only thing that might stop this slide into moral oblivion is if the church starts draining money and members. That is why I have written that liberal and mainstream Catholics should leave the church to find religious institutions that match their values.
While the news media reports that the Pope is stepping down due to infirmity, I speculate that he might actually be eluding greater infamy and getting out of Dodge before the impending storm descends on Rome.
The existing evidence against Ratzinger, involving the Church’s child rape scandals, has long been so compelling and at a level of “beyond a reasonable doubt” that no fresh scandal is needed for it to be appropriate for him to be behind prison, rather than monastery bars.
True, Scott, but if a new scandal came out that was very vivid and colorful — and worse than previous evidence, it might be his downfall. Better to resign and pretend to be senile than go to prison, or become a social pariah.
If anyone saw the documentary on HBO called Mea Maxima Culpa about the pedophile scandals in the RCC, it was revealed that while Ratzinger was still a cardinal, he had *all* of the sex abuse cases sent to his desk. He was in charge of what became of them, which as we know was all about cover-up and not justice nor protecting children. If there is a hell, he and his deserve to rot there. All the pundits are now breathlessly speculating about a younger ‘more progressive’ pope. Yawn! It ain’t gonna happen. The ultra-conservatives have all the power and Joe will be replaced with a younger version of himself.
Yep, Gary, it’s a fantasy to think that a progressive Pope will be installed. Especially, because Catholic Church growth is mainly in homophobic developing countries.
The only way a progressive Pope will come to pass is if he concealed his true beliefs for his entire career for the purposes of advancement. And, once in the Vatican changes his tune. I’m not holding my breath.
The pope gave two week’s notice. Good. Beginning in March, he will no longer be a “head of state,” and no longer invulnerable to the criminal justice system. The odds are that nothing rather than something will happen, but there’s hope.
Even a blind Bedouin who had been lost in the desert for 20 years could see that Ratzinger didn’t exactly steer the church out of crisis. If Vatican politics forced him out (and gave him a face-saving way to leave), they won’t make this mistake again. They will probably elect a pope with excellent diplomatic and people skills, who will find ways to resolve the child-abuse mess and Ratzinger’s inter-faith train wreck. This new pope will probably be more of a people person, and therefore popular and beloved. We may have the problem of a pope who says the same things about us as Ratzinger, but in prettier words, leaving us in a more difficult situation than we have with Ratzinger.
“They will probably elect a pope with excellent diplomatic and people skills, who will find ways to resolve the child-abuse mess…”.
Assuming the child abuse mess can be resolved – I’m not convinced it can.
My friend, who is involved with the LA-Mahoney debacle, thinks this is all interconnected. There was no surprise when the Bishop of Santa Barbara, resigned shortly after Mahoney. The web of teenage boys, young men, and “hollywood handsome” priests seems to be rampant amongst the clergy, especially when you see the magnitude of abuse over the years. One thing to remember, even though we call these men “priests” they are the most evil of men who would slit your throat in a New York second if they thought you would embarrass the Church…or them. Don’t think for second that the Church doesn’t have operatives who can take you out of the picture if the right phone call is made. It’s no mistake that the Vatican has it’s on state in Italy. Diplomatic immunity is key to avoiding the prosecution of other nations.
I was born and raised Catholic, went to Catholic Schools my whole life and somehow, by the Grace of God, was able to avoid these predators. My friend was not so lucky. He was raped over 1000x, and the Church only cared how they looked in the next days LA Times. Mahoney was as cold and heartless as any mafia boss. The thought that these men held themselves up to be the representatives of Christ makes my stomach turn. I know why Cardinals like Red so much, and why they wear the clothes they do. Devils like Red, and don’t they need something to hid their horns and tail? I still believe in God and Christ, but this Church is NOT representative of Him.
Good riddance to the pope who made it possible for thinking people to realize the Catholic Church for the fraud that it is. I am sure that his replacement will be more of the same. I used to be a Catholic but gave it up for lent more than 45 years ago with absolutely no regrets!
In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I accept that he has resigned genuinely for health reasons, and I think that he has made the right decision. He probably doesn’t want to make the same mistake as the previous pope, who clung on long after he should have gone. I can’t take a tolerant view of his appalling anti-gay utterances, especially his infamous “Halloween Letter” on the “Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons” and his later statement condoning anti-gay discrimination, both promulgated when he was Cardinal Ratzinger.
As for the covering up of sexual abuse, the chances are that his successor will be some bishop who has done far more covering up than he has ever done. They’ve nearly all been at it over the years – in order to “prevent scandal to Holy Mother Church”!
[...] has since been lots of speculation about the cause (example here; another sample here). Benedict’s stated reason is his waning strength, but that hasn’t stopped the rumors. [...]
[...] The day that this awful Pope resigned I wrote: [...]
It was already established he had covered up the abuses. For him to be the first pope to resign in over 600 years, there may be some truth to the rumours I have heard he was a molester himself.
[...] has since been lots of speculation about the cause (example here [4]; another sample here [5]). Benedict’s stated reason is his waning strength, but that hasn’t stopped the rumors. As [...]