Why certainly. IMNVHO, The Vatican has placed itself in a rather awkward position reminiscent to me of the Avignon Captivity, and other times, when more than one Pope was claiming the throne. Pope Benny tried to back out gracefully, but apparently the nomenclatura wouldn't allow it.
As a title, "Pope Emeritus" seems completely bogus to me. Furthermore, I think I can see in the swirling competition between various factions, why Pope Benny may have resigned to begin with.
Furthermore, the dichotomy between the sacred and the profane within the Roman Church has always fascinated me. Take for example, St. Francis of Assisi. He preached the dispersal of earthly treasures to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. Yet, upon his demise, the religious order((s) that grew up around him owned a major piece the real estate in Northern Italy. Is he any less a saint? Of course not. Is this not historically remarkable? Of course it is.
I also confess that I cannot quite take this new fellow as a serious heavyweight thinker and consider him a sort of dabbler around the edges of Liberation Theology .
Now is my tone somewhat irreverent? Why yes, I believe I must confess it is.
I wasn’t clear. It’s the snarky tone I find offputting because it reads as so gratutious,juvenile, and especially in the last sentence, just smug. You’re so busy larding it on, your points become obscured.
That said,I would also disagree, particularly with the import of the first paragraph of your last. “Emeritus”, I have just learned, is a “postpositive adjective.” I’d never heard of one of those, but ok. We all know it means “retired.” Why that descriptor is “bogus,” just escapes me -— it’s merely descriptive. I think you’re reaching an awful lot to compare Benedict to an anti-pope. I’m just not aware of any facts that would support such a comparison. Frankly, I’m a Catholic and not a huge Francis fan, but your post just reads like this was an opportunity for you to hop on your anti-Catholic hobby horse.
Later, when Pope Urban VI was elected in 1378 and quickly antagonized the cardinals, who proceeded to elect a rival pope, the Great Western Schism began, which lasted until 1415. The line of popes who are now regarded as the rightful popes were in Rome, while the rival line resided in the papal palace at Avignon (Avignon remained a papal possession until the French Revolution)--that line are now considered antipopes. At the time it was hard for people to sort it out--some countries recognized one pope and some the other. It got worse when the Council of Pisa tried to end the schism by deposing both popes and electing a third man, which simply meant there were three men all claiming to be the pope.
I don't think St. Francis would have been happy if he had foreseen the grand basilica that was built over his tomb.