Another papal resignation on the horizon?

Karl Keating, the founder of Catholic Answers, raises an interesting question: A New Pope in 2016? This is not a prediction, he emphasizes; it’s a sort of mental exercise.

Pope Francis has referred to the resignation of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, as “a beautiful gesture of nobility, of humility and courage,” Keating reminds readers. Last year the Pontiff told reporters that he expected his own pontificate “will last a short time: two or three years.” In 2016, he will have been Pope for three years.

(It is not clear whether Pope Francis meant to say that he would serve for a total of 2-3 years, or for 2-3 years past the time when he made that statement in 2014, which was already one year into his papacy. But even if he meant the latter, Keating observes, “Two years from 2014 is 2016.”)

But that’s not the only reason why Keating wonders if 2016 could bring another papal resignation. Pope Francis, he recalls, was elected with the expectation that he would bring reform to the Vatican. He has certainly changed the public image of the papacy, and under the guidance Cardinal Pell, the Vatican’s finances have finally been brought under rational control. But as for the Roman Curia, Keating judges: “Two-and-a-half years into Francis’s papacy, not much seems to have changed.”

Pope Francis, Keating writes, is very clearly committed to seeing the completion of the work the Synod of Bishops has undertaken, on the pastoral care of families. The Synod will meet in October, and its work—culminating in a papal document—will presumably be finished next year. The Holy Father is also committed to structural reforms in the Roman Curia; it’s quite possible that the Council of Cardinals will be ready with final proposals for that reform by next year, too. If so, at that point the most important items on the Pope’s to-do list would be done; his desk would be relatively clean.

Still Keating has another, more provocative reason to wonder about the possibility of a papal resignation. Pope Benedict stepped down when he became convinced that he no longer had the strength necessary to fulfill his mission. Keating foresees a time when Pope Francis will also conclude that he cannot do what needs to be done. In fact, he (Keating) wonders whether that time may already have arrived:

Napscoordinator:

B-XVI the worst pope in the history of the Church????? You can't be serious. Just in the lifetimes of many FReepers we have suffered through John XXIII, Paul VI, a liberal extreme in all but Humanae Vitae, and now Francis (whether God fires him as is traditional or he flees into obscurity and retirement). We Catholics and the world NEED a truly Catholic pope again (like JP I, JP II or B-XVI).

You might also want to check out Alexander VI, John IX and a whole lot more.

I find it verrrrrry unlikely with some of the sad excuses for bishops in Florida that you cannot find a sufficiently illiterate and theologically muddled "mass" rubric such as we suffered from the 1960s until JP II and B-XVI.

If you are ever in Boston on a Sunday, you can find John (did you know he served in Vietnam but served which side?) Kerry's home parish, a once quite Catholic Church across from Boston Common and now a liturgical horror show with "consecrated" loaves of French bread, broken into pieces and distributed in the pews, a Christmas bazaar to benefit the Sandinistas, environmental hymns, no kneeling, srmons that are perfectly "progressive" and "I'm (Fr.?) Bob and I'll be your presider today," dressed like a lumberjack. Too late to attend Ted Kennedy's funeral at another once Catholic Church and presided over by Francis's good buddy Sean Cardinal O'Malley! But every "Catholic" baby-killing politico is welcome to receive communion!

IIRC, the best in show of Florida heretics posing as bishops is Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, one of JP II's worst blunders (along with Chicago's Joseph "Seamless Garment" Bernardin and LA's Roger McPhony). Fortunately, Lynch turns 75 on May 27, 2016 and must tender his resignation. That would be a good time for Francis to step down since he will turn 80 on December 17, 2016. Perhaps we will again have a Catholic pope to appoint Lynch's successor to end 21 years of the suffering of actual Catholics in the St. Petersburg Diocese.

I would not worry, if I were you, about being Francis' successor. You are married with children, not ordained as a priest or consecrated a bishop, much less being a member of the Sacred College of Cardinals. You won't have to worry about me succeeding Francis since all those qualities apply to me too.

If you don't like B-XVI's restoration of the meaning of the rubrics of the Mass, attend a Tridentine Mass (Latin Missal of 1962) instead. Worship God, use a missal and don't let yourself be distracted by matters of your offended taste for the modern. No distractions such as glad handing, folks in the pews imagining themselves celebrants, No Kumbaya nonsense, etc.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.