I’ve never been into conspiracy theories, but I’m beginning to wonder about the reason given for Pope Benedict’s retirement because of health. I’ve read that Francis was the #2 candidate for selection when Benedict was raised to Peter’s seat and that his supporters never stopped wanting him to be pope and not Benedict?
I must say that I much prefer Benedict XVI to what we are seeing from the new pontif.
No conspiracy whatsoever. Ratzinger is a very humble man. He never wanted to be pope.
In July 2007 Pope Benedict visited the Vatican Secret Archives, and said on "reaching the age of 70 [in April 1997], I very much hoped that the beloved John Paul II would have allowed me to devote myself to the study of interesting documents and manuscripts which you preserve with such care, true masterpieces which help us study the history of humanity and Christianity. In His providential designs the Lord had other plans for me and now I’m here among you not as a keen student of ancient texts, but as a shepherd called on to encourage all believers to cooperate for the salvation of the world, each carrying out the mission God has assigned to him"In August 2010 Ra
ffaele Cardinal Farina, archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church, said that Pope John Paul II declined then-Cardinal Ratzinger's request to spend his last years at the Vatican Archives. Cardinal Farina recalled when he was appointed prefect of the Vatican Library in May 1997 having a brief meeting with Cardinal Ratzinger in which he was asked his opinion of Ratzinger joining the team. Ratzinger asked the Pope if he could step down from his role when he turned 70 on 16 April 1997. "He was asking me what I thought of his idea and what being archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church involved", said Farina.
On February 11, 2013, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI is to stand down as leader of the Catholic church on February 28, at 8 pm Rome time (7pm GMT). The 85-year-old Pontiff said his strength was 'no longer adequate to continue in office due to his advanced age'. He also said: 'I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me', and that he was making the decision in 'full freedom' but was 'fully aware of the gravity of this gesture'.
Back on April 29, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI did something rather striking, but which went largely unnoticed.
He stopped off in Aquila, Italy, and visited the tomb of an obscure medieval Pope named St. Celestine V (1215-1296). After a brief prayer, he left his pallium, the symbol of his own episcopal authority as Bishop of Rome, on top of Celestine's tomb!
Fifteen months later, on July 4, 2010, Benedict went out of his way again, this time to visit and pray in the cathedral of Sulmona, near Rome, before the relics of this same saint, Celestine V. Few people, however, noticed at the time.
One of Pope Benedict XVI's best friends was and still is Nasrallah Cardinal Sfeir, former Patriarch of the Maronite Church. On Feb. 26, 2011, the 90-year-old Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir of Antioch retired from his position as the leader of more than three million Maronite Catholics. He had served as a bishop for 50 years, 25 of them as his Church's patriarch, and as a priest for 60 years. Pope Benedict XVI wrote a personal letter to the retiring Cardinal Patriarch of Lebanon's Maronite Catholic Church, thanking him for his service for the greater glory of God and the good of all his faithful.
Looking over these events, one can see how Pope Benedict sought a way to step down and possibly drew inspiration from Cardinal Sfeir.
Your thoughts?