Ending a Pontificate

Pope Benedict began his weekly Wednesday audience last week by offering a brief explanation for his retirement:

“I did this [retiring] in full freedom for the good of the Church, after having prayed at length and having examined my conscience before God, well aware of the seriousness of the act, but equally conscious of no longer being able to carry out the Petrine ministry with the strength that it requires.  I am supported and enlightened by the certainty that the Church is Christ, who will never allow it to lack his leadership and care. Thank you all for the love and prayer with which you have accompanied me.”

As Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger saw the negative effects of Pope John Paul II’s declining health in the governance and administration of the Church.  Pope Benedict does not want this to happen again, so he is setting a needed precedent for our times.  Today an elderly person may continue to live for many years while being greatly impaired by illness, so by his actions, Benedict liberates future Popes from these situations by giving them the freedom to resign.

Many try to find a hidden reason for Benedict’s retirement.  We can only work with what he gives us: he retires because he is no longer able to carry out the ministry entrusted to him due to his age and health.

Rather than spending the Wednesday audience speaking about his retirement he quickly turned people’s attention away from his shocking announcement to the season of Lent.

“Today one can no longer be Christian as a simple consequence of living in a society with Christian roots,” he said. “Even those who come from Christian families, and are brought up religiously must renew every day the choice to be Christian.”

The Holy Father reflected that with the temptations of secularism and criticism from many corners, Christians face tests in both their personal and social life.

He continued, “It is not easy to be faithful to Christian marriage, to practice mercy in everyday life, to leave space for prayer and inner silence, it is not easy to publicly oppose choices that many consider obvious, such as abortion in the event of an unwanted pregnancy, euthanasia in the case of serious illness, or the selection of embryos to prevent hereditary diseases. The temptation to set aside one’s faith is always present and conversion becomes a response to God which must be confirmed repeatedly in life.”

Pope Benedict called us to daily conversion, committing ourselves daily to Jesus Christ.

Today tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered at noon at Saint Peter Square.  Pope Benedict thanked the members of the crowd for their prayers and supports throughout these past few days.  The mayor of Rome estimated 100,000 gathered to see and listen to the Pope during his routine weekly appearance.

As Pope Benedict’s pontificate comes to an end, there is a sadness over the Church mixed with great anticipation.  As Benedict now humbly takes a step back and heads to his books and prayers, the Church continues courageously towards the future, thankful and invigorated by his eight year pontificate.