Pope Benedict is Resigning!
10February 11, 2013 by mattfradd
Pope Benedict is resigning.
Pope Benedict is resigning! Here is his statement:
Dear Brothers, I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church.
After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.
I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering.
However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to me.
For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
matt fradd 
In GOD WE TRUST and pray. Have mercy on us all and fill us with the Holy Spirit.
Brother, you will surely believe that this decision is God’s will, but I am really shocked and kinda anxious. How do you feel and how do you think this will affect us?
It’s natural to feel shocked and anxious. It’s not every day (or year) we get a new Pope. Much less frequent do Pope’s resign. Trust in God brother! All will be well.
Initially I was saddened by the news but now Ive pulled myself together Im happy for him and I think he’s making the right decision. He asked JPII if he could resign but JPII said no, probably because he knew God had great things in store for him and needed him to do this job, and he has done such a spectacular job of being our Holy Father. But lately I dont know how he’s been doing it. He’s such a sweet old guy and the fact that he’s been doing this job and flying about all over the world is nothing short of a miracle. He now can have the peaceful retirement he deserves and we can look forward and trust in the Holy Spirit to guide the Cardinals to choose our next leader. Viv Il Papa!
[…] Source: Matt Fradd […]
I’m highly shocked, but I do believe that the Spirit has prompted him to do what he has done and we can only pray that the Spirit will lead the Church to elect the right person to lead us.
If Pope Benedict wants to resign due to heavy burdens on his health then I believe he made the right decision.
We need to remember that we have a direct relationship with God and that is where our focus should be. I believe we need respect the decision of a man led by God. We might never know the real reason for the pope resigning, but need to trust what he says is true.
We do not need a pope, priest on any other religious leader to pave the way to Heaven for us, we have got our faith and relationship directly with God. Who has ever met the pope? I think the pope is only a symbol of hope. If there was no pope or Vatican, would that mean that there is no hope and we were all lost. No, we still have our faith and relationship.
something to think about, “often religion gets in the way of our Relationship with God”…
Graem,
Let me respond to three of the points you made:
1. Our focus should be on our relationship with God. – No Catholic is disagreeing with you.
2. We don’t need a Pope or priest to pave the way to heaven. – Again, no Catholic would disagree with that.
3. The Pope is only a symbol of hope. – He is much more than that! He is the vicar of Christ! Appointed by the Holy Spirit to guide the Church on earth.
You claim that religion can get in the way of our relationship with God? I say the two need not be divided. A religion that leads one away from God is a false religion, and a “relationship” with God apart from the true religion is incomplete to say the least.
Thanks for your comment.
Hi to all of you:
Trust in our Holy Church. God has given the world not one , but 2 remarkeable Pope’s in a very short time. Very different, and they still complement eachother. Juan paulo II with his examples of love, tolerance , ect, and Benedict XVI with his enormous wisdom, and much more. The common attributes to them are sacrifice, tolerance, truth. We live in “the time of pagans” (Benedict XVI : Jesus of Nazaret), so our Holly father har reached out to us and armed His Church with the wisdom , and love She needs for the time ahead. I beleave that our next Pope will be as important and needed as Jean Paul II and Benedict XVI. People, get some of the books Benedict XVI has written on Jesus. They are remarkably easy to read / understand.
Thanks to Matt: You have the must pleasant, and polite way of sayng wath needs to be sayd
Sorry for spelling / grammar errors