Suffice it to say I did not see the resignation of Pope Palpatine Benedict coming. I didn't realize he even had the option. I always thought, in that job, there was only one way out of it. 
Nonetheless this a big deal. There has been no Pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII did so in 1415. And he really did not do so voluntarily-he pretty much had it forced upon him by the circumstances of the time.Three rival popes had been selected by separate factions of the church, and a group of bishops called the Council of Constance was trying to heal the schism. Gregory XII had offered to resign so that the council could choose a new pope whom all factions would recognize. It took two years after Gregory XII’s departure to elect his successor, Martin V.
It's not quite the same in this situation. Benedict is probably doing a noble thing-in offering to allow selection of a Pope while he is still in some sembalance of health and avoid the usual situation where the moles of the Vatican Curia essentially run the Catholic Church-unaccountable to anyone. ( Some say they are accountable to God, of course, but recent history shows they don't seem to actually understand that fine point).
So Benedict is doing a good thing right?
Maybe not. If you subscibe to the ideas put forth by Saint Malachy, whoever succeeds Pope Benedict will be the last Pope. Or at the least the Pope who presides over the destruction of Rome. ( Would anyone miss it?)
There have been 267 Popes in all. Malachy's 112 lines of Latin supposedly predict all since Pope Celestine II. And the successor to Benedict will be the 112th pope in the sequence. The final Pope is supposed to be Peterus Romanus. (Peter of Rome). Basically, if you believe people hooked on depressing Bible Prophecies-like Hal Lindsay-this Pope sells out the farm to the antichrist. ( Of course its been 40 years since Lindsay said that the European Common Market was the beast with 10 heads-so take his predicitions with a grain of salt).
And as an extra added bonus, sure to screw up your day on this subject-the "We need a pope from Africa" crowd is pushing a Cardinal named Peter Turkson from Ghana as a front runner to succeed Benedict. I don't think he will get elected-but you never know………………
So we got all that going for us.
well, to add to the apocalyptic signs, N.korea detonated another nuke, and whatever will say Obama in the upcoming speech will be used against him by R., NRA and right-wing militias.
Wake me up when another year goes by without world ending…
btw, EU is a beast with 25 heads now – and I dont think even British eurosceptics are strong enough to kill the hydra 😛 At the worst they can secede and kill own economy whose exports are in over 50% to other EU countries…
No they are not. But given that Benedict did not enjoy the good feeling John Paul II did, it is probably a foregone conclusion that there will be much discussion about his successor. And the circumstances under which it occurred. Conspiracy theorists, anyone?
there is no need for conspiracy theories to see the seething snakes pit that the conclave is anyway 😛 all the coteries, cliques, and otright mafias amongst the cardinals are vying for power,,,
I think it was a smart move by the Pope. He knows that he will never live up to his predecessor in the public opinion, and he probably knows about the prophecy of the last pope. So what better way to make sure that you are not just an "asterix" in history is to do something that they will remember you fully by, i.e resigning. I think since they came out with more of the files from the LA sex abuse cases, and seeing that as a Cardinal he was one of the ones giving orders to make sure the bad stuff was kept quiet, he probably did a noble thing and just resigned. If so then he was a much better man than some of the others in the church.
I think that the Vatican is in league with the History Channel/NG/Discovery/BBC, so that they can take a cut in all of the "Doomsday" documentaries that are to come out when the new Pope is selected. Better to get ahead of it that way, and make a few bucks along the way.
The period of the schism is a fascinating part of the Catholic Church's histo…..zzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz… All three Popes were to be dismissed by the Council of Constance. John ran away but was dragged back and was to first to succumb to the pressure and conceded to the council's demand – call it resignation if you must. Gregory (of Avignon) was lost when the council merged his and John's papacies a few months later. Benedict (of Pisa) never surrender his claim and scarpered off to points adjacent to nowhere.
The current Pope? I have no conspiracy theory – he simply feels like shit thanks to his heart condition. I've been there. Any takers?
(Maurice: WTF is with those once serious TV channels these days? Sunk to feeding pulp pseudoscience to the lowest common denominator of barely-double-figure IQs, ghost-busters, pawn-shoppers and UFO-spotters – *shakes head in despair.*)