I would take second place to no one here in my admiration for John Paul II. OTOH, His last years were hard to understand in that his health was sooooo precarious. If he had suffered a stroke and had become incapacitated in his ability to communicate but survived for, say, four years, no mechanism exists to convene a conclave to elect a successor until he would be physically dead. That would leave the Barque of Peter adrift and without its captain during very perilous times.
We can say that God would not allow that to happen to his Church and it did not but resignation is an honorable and practical alternative. The pope who resigns should scrupulously avoid conflict with his successor and Benedict XVI is apparently going to handle this by entering a cloistered monastery and cutting off direct contact with the outside world.
May God bless Pope Benedict XVI and his soon to be elected successor.
Benedict XVI is apparently going to handle this by entering a cloistered monastery and cutting off direct contact with the outside world. Where did you read/ see this. I have been scouring the news to see what his plans were and did not see anything about this.
Also will he still be entitled to a Papal burial?