So will the Pope, by then former Pope, be a member of the conclave? I seem to remember that there is an age limit though. Any canonical scholars out there?
It was just reported that Benedict said he would t be part of the conclave
I believe there are voting, and non-voting members of the conclave. I think it might be age-bound...no voting members over the age of 80.
He's over 80 so therefore ineligible to vote in Conclave.
He will not; he is too old, by several years.
Even if that were not the case, I suspect (though the rules don't require it that I know of) that he would recuse himself.
EWTN is rerunning a special from this morning with Michael Warsaw, the President of EWTN, Colin Donovan, a canon lawyer and Fr. Mitch Pacwa. they are calling the resignation an act of humility. They all agree that this decision, for now, raises more questions than there are answers. However, your question did arise and the general consensus is that, as head of the church, he can cast a vote but will probably leave this up to the cardinals. No precedent so we will have to wait and watch. The group also noted that the mainstream media will approach this with secular political lenses and spin the news to suit their agenda. EWTN is committed to providing factual news and we should attempt to draw our discussions from their coverage. I already saw that on the local news when a reporter referred to the pope as a "hardliner" and hopefully the next pope will be more attuned to contemporary times.