Pope Benedict XVI to Resign

Posted February 11, 2013, 8:02 a.m.

Pope Benedict XVI announced this morning that he will resign at the end of this month, citing his age and ill health. This will be the first papal resignation since Pope Gregory XII stepped down in 1415 to resolve the western schism.

A papal conclave, in which the College of Cardinals will elect a new pope, will likely be held in March. Once elected, a pope serves until his death or resignation. Technically any Catholic man is eligible to serve as pope, but they are nearly always elected from among the bishops in the College of Cardinals. If a non-bishop were ever selected, he would first need to be ordained bishop.

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome and the successor of Saint Peter, who first served in that role. Catholics believe that he is called to serve as the head of the church on earth and, as such, has special leadership authority. The east/west schism in the 1000s occurred, in part, due to a dispute over the nature of this authority, with the eastern (now Orthodox) church believing that the Bishop of Rome is a ‘first among equals’ and the western (now Catholic) church believing his authority to be broader, particularly in church polity and matters of faith and morals.

As a Catholic, I offer my prayers for the Holy Father, and for the whole church as we navigate something that hasn’t happened in nearly six hundred years.

Scott Bradford has been putting his opinions on his website since 1995—before most people knew what a website was. He has been a professional web developer in the public- and private-sector for over twenty years. He is an independent constitutional conservative who believes in human rights and limited government, and a Catholic Christian whose beliefs are summarized in the Nicene Creed. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from George Mason University. He loves Pink Floyd and can play the bass guitar . . . sort-of. He’s a husband, pet lover, amateur radio operator, and classic AMC/Jeep enthusiast.

Quotes

Where the people fear the government you have tyranny. Where the government fears the people you have liberty.

We are all born brave, trusting, and greedy, and most of us manage to remain greedy.

The time is always right to do what’s right.

Religion and natural science are fighting a joint battle in an incessant, never-relaxing crusade against skepticism and against dogmatism, against disbelief and against superstition, and the rallying cry in this crusade has always been, and always will be: ‘On to God!’

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

Salvation, while personal, is not private. To be incorporated into Christ is to be incorporated into his Church. You cannot sunder the two: it is not two in any case. It is one thing.

The wisdom of the past was hard-earned, and your dead ancestors may have something useful to tell you.

We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.

Brooks’s Law: Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.

As Christians, we are called . . . to stand in an awkward tension, seeking to prosper, while yet remaining vigilant to answer the call of Christ, even if that call leads us into depletion, discomfort, or even death.

The church, a community that authoritatively teaches and disciples its members, cannot withstand a revolution in which each member becomes, in effect, his own pope.

I would sooner walk in the dark, and hold hard to a promise of my God, than trust in the light of the brightest day. . . .

You simply cannot invent any conspiracy theory so ridiculous and obviously satirical that some people somewhere don’t already believe it.

You know, it doesn’t really matter what they write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.

They tell you sex has become a mess because it was hushed up. But for the last twenty years it has not been. It has been chattered about all day long. Yet it is still in a mess.

The ancient democracies, in which the people themselves deliberated, never possessed one feature of good government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity.

Yet there is no greater freedom than that of allowing oneself to be guided by the Holy Spirit, renouncing the attempt to plan and control everything to the last detail, and instead letting him enlighten, guide, and direct us, leading us wherever he wills.

Failure always brings something valuable with it. I don’t let it leave until I extract that value.

To be human is to live suspended between danger and opportunity.

But let us never forget . . . beyond Europe’s borders, in a world where oppression and violence are very real, liberation is still a moral goal, and freedom and security still need defenders.