Pope Benedict XVI Resigns: Matters Arising

Pope Benedict XVI Resigns: Matters Arising - By Uwakwe Chibuike MFC

Pope Benedict addressing the Cardinals on his resignation

Following the Pope’s announcement on Monday February 11 2013 that he will retire from the Papacy come February 28 2013, divergent views on the Pope’s resignation have rocked the media. According to the English translation of his speech, the 85 years old Pope said “I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry”. He continued that “In order to govern the ship of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me”.

Therefore, the aging Pontiff who has governed the Church for almost eight years declared thus: “For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is”.

Some people do not see the Pope’s resignation as a surprise because he had hinted in a book of interviews in 2010 that he might resign if he felt he was no longer able to carry out his duties. But according to the Pope’s official spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Pope’s decision to resign has left Church officials “incredulous” even though it was in full compliance with Church law. He however revealed that after his resignation, the former Pope Benedict XVI will move to a summer residence near Rome. After that, he will live in a former monastery within the Vatican territory.

Pope Benedict XVI Becomes the Sixth Oldest Pope in History

Before now, in the history of the papacy, the Late Pope John Paul II has occupied the position of the sixth oldest pope, but on Wednesday, February 29th, Benedict XVI passed John Paul II in becoming the sixth oldest pope in the history of the Church, completing 84 years, 10 months, 2 weeks and 1 day.

The ranking only looks at the popes elected since the year 1400, because there are no precise records that existed beforehand. This is according to Anura Guruge, he gathers papal statistics and is the creator of the web page "Popes and Papacy" on the history of the popes.

Those pope that were older than Benedict XVI include Innocent XII and Pius XI, who both died at 85 years old, Clement X was 86, Clement XII lived to 87, and topping the list is Leo XIII, who

A Day in the Life of Pope Benedict

Pope Benedict XVI, at age 84, never goes to sleep before 11pm, prays the Rosary every day, gets up at 5am and uses a cell phone only accessible by his closest advisers.

In an article published online at Europaquotidiano.it on Feb. 17, Italian journalist Aldo Maria Valli documents a day in life of the Pope, who wakes up when Vatican City “is still immersed in silence.”

Valli says the Bavarian Pope is a “typical German, a methodic man,” who “likes to organize his day down to the last detail, according to a very precise schedule.”

Benedict XVI begins his day by celebrating Mass in the papal chapel at 7am, together with his two personal secretaries, Father Georg Ganswein and Father Alfred Xuereb.

Other members of the papal household who also attend the Mass include the Pope’s assistants, Carmela, Loredana, Cristina and Rosella, who are all consecrated women belonging to the Memores Domini community of the movement Communion and Liberation, as well as his personal valet, 46 year-old Paolo Gabriele, who is married and has three children.

After the Mass, which is always celebrated in Italian, Benedict XVI has breakfast at 8am, and then heads to