WHAT? The Pope is quitting? Yes, the news came today that 85 (almost 86) year old Pope Benedict XVI is resigning from the Papacy. Can he do that? In short, yes. BUT why? Papa Benny has said from the beginning that if he felt he was too old or too weak to continue his role as Pope, he would step down. Basically, he felt that the Church deserves a Pope who can energetically participate in the Easter Vigil, World Youth Day, and many of the other papal duties.
This takes great humility. First, to recognize that he can no longer do it and then to announce to the world. I think also, that our Church has suffered a lot recently with the suffering and death of Pope John Paul II and perhaps Papa Benny wanted to spare us that.
So, what will happen? Well, this is where it gets really exciting for us! The Cardinals will gather together in the Vatican to vote on a new Pope.This is called a "conclave". Now, this isn't like a presidential election. There is a lot of prayer that takes place and we believe that the Holy Spirit guides our Cardinals to choose the right man for the job - the man who will become the Successor of Peter. When they vote, they let us know what happened by signaling either black or white smoke. Black - no success. White - We have a Pope!
So, what do we do now? We pray. We pray for Papa Benny as he makes this tough decision and for his health. We pray for the Cardinals to have the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit to choose the man right for the job. We pray for whomever our new Pope will be, that the Lord will be working in his heart to prepare him for the journey ahead in leading us as Shepherd, Papa, and Successor of Peter.
What an exciting time to be Catholic y'all! As St. Pio said, "Pray, Hope, and Don't Worry."
