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Pope To Resign Citing Advanced Age

Hugh Pickens writes writes "BBC reports that Pope Benedict XVI is to resign at the end of this month in an unexpected development, saying he is too old to continue at the age of 85. In a statement, the pontiff said: '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.' Resignations from the papacy are not unknown, but this is the first in the modern era, which has been marked by pontiffs dying while in office."

43 of 542 comments (clear)

  1. Simply Could Not Fulfill His Duties by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Funny

    It became apparent when he was supposed to move a priest who had been indulging in altar boys to the Diocese of Ogdensburg in New York where they would have a trial and could pay off the families but instead he moved him to the Diocese of Owensboro in Kentucky where, upon discovery, he was lynched and killed without a trial. At that point, every God Fearin' Holy Roman Catholic altar-boy-molesting priest in the world feared the Pope could no longer shield them from mortal justice and so it was clear he had to resign his post. It's been long rumored that Cardinal Vincent "Big Vinnie the Silencer" Mastrantonio will be the successor and be able to invoke the Holy Spirit to "keep those quiet who don't want their kneecaps busted in over here over there."

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Simply Could Not Fulfill His Duties by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Agreed, It isn't funny.
      * I AM NOT EXCUSING THESE GROUPS FOR THEIR HORRIBLE ACTS However I am explaining that their actions in a less emotional reaction.

      The problem lies in the fact not in problems with the church's beliefs, or even its policies. Except for the fact that it is an old institution, Just like the Boy Scouts of America. The issue of this cover-up is based on issues that have happened in the past where is was more common to cover it up, and quietly move the offending person away from the problem. This happened with families during the past too. Their Kid gets assaulted by their Uncle, the parents will just make sure the Uncle is never alone with the child, and not invited to as much events as they can.

      What compounds the issue is the Church, Boy Scouts, and other similar groups is that they are groups that stand for high moral values. And when there is a lapse it is that much harder for such groups to admit to past mistakes, and compound the problem. In many ways these continuing jokes and jabs validate their concerns about releasing the information. In America although about 1/3 of the population is Catholic about 2/3, are not. And many Christian groups still hold anger to the Catholic Church for things that have happened hundreds of years ago. So when would be a good time to show they have been hiding the practices. Any time would be bad, because there are so many people who wants to see the Moral Group go down and show how bad they are.

      Now we combine the Catholic Churches Key belief on forgiveness and absolution. Which has a gap for people who have mental illnesses, where once you confess to your sins you are good again. So the priests who have had a lapse in their control went and got forgiveness, the Church if following that particular dogma then punished the priest further it would seem like they are not holding on to their ideals.

      I am willing to bet there are a lot more organizations who have hid their sexual abuse records, and you will find that most of them are from "Good" Organizations who in general are out there tying to help people. Schools, Social Workers, Youth Groups, Mission Groups.... Anywhere where the adults are suppose to be the good guys that the kid should historically trust.

      The solution to this problem, isn't making sarky comments and getting angry at the organization, but to help insure there are new policies in place to help protect children, education to teach children and parents on how to protect themselves and their children. Yes punish the people who continued the cover up and lied about it, but this general public over reaction that makes it seem a Catholic Priest is equal to a Rapist is just overall bad and unproductive.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:Simply Could Not Fulfill His Duties by sumdumass · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Please point me to some citations on this. All the information I can find says that the rate of molestations are near identical to every other profession in which exposure to children is part of it.

      This number is higher then a number for the general population. I think it has to do with those who would harm the children actively seeking out avenues to be exposed to them.

    3. Re:Simply Could Not Fulfill His Duties by rmandevi · · Score: 5, Interesting

      While the Church is a church of forgiveness, it is not a Church of forgetfulness. The Church can decide not to punish a molesting priest, but it should realize that it has a problem with that priest and should not let that priest around children again.

      For the record, policy in the USA requires any Church members (from bishops down to Religious Education teachers) are required to take a course in child abuse detection and prevention (sexual and otherwise). One of the things that they teach there is if they see signs of abuse from anybody, they are to inform both the Church and the local constabulary.

      The reasons that the Catholics have been singled out on the abuse angle are roughly:
      1: We are expected to be held to a higher moral standard than even other churches, as well we should be
      2: There are an awful lot of priests there. Roughly a third of the US Christian population is Catholic, and no other church has a quarter as many members as the Catholic church does. Again, more reason to keep our noses (and other parts) clean.
      3: The ugly reason is that the Catholic Church is organized different from other churches, and thus easier to sue for big money. Because we are an authoritarian church, ownership is by hierarchy. When the scandal started up in Boston (the archidiocese I grew up in), people weren't suing a priest, or that priest's church, but the archdiocese itself, which draws its income from every Catholic church in the Greater Boston area.

      None of these should be taken as excusing things that the Church and priests, but I do note that the above reasons may explain why we don't see similar scandals rocking other churches. I highly doubt that the Catholics have cornered the market on molesting clergy.

      For my money, the fact that these pedophiles exist in the Church is horrible, but in a way understandable. Any large group will have some bad apples, and it's impossible to weed them all out. The fact that the Church had been protecting these priests [em]as policy[/em] is much worse. I for one would have loved to see Cardinal Law explain himself to a grand jury, and think in retrospect that Pope John Paul II did us all a disservice by getting him out of the country before that could happen.

      --
      People who live in glass houses shouldn't walk and text.
  2. So by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What?

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:So by TwentyCharsIsNotEnou · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you're a fan of a particular [insert sport here] team, you tend to be interested if a big change of leadership occurs in an opposing team.

      If you're an atheist or just an enlightened citizen of the world, I reckon it's newsworthy when the leadership of a 1 billion-strong team is about to change.

    2. Re:So by SomePgmr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's here so people can troll. I'm sure anything that mentions religion gets a billion views and comments.

      But it is kinda interesting, I guess. The article says it hasn't happened since 1415.

    3. Re:So by ravenscar · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Seriously? So what? I'm pretty sure that a change in the religious leadership for over 1 billion people spread across the entire globe fits in the "stuff that matters" category. The guidance of the pope strongly influences the way that a very large number of people think about important topics such as family planning, the role of government, charity, women's issues, the relationship between religions, and more.

      I'm an atheist from 'Murica and even I understand the potential significance of such a change. I mean, it probably isn't as important as DRM on video games or complaining about Apple, but it merits a spot in the list.

    4. Re:So by turkeyfeathers · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The Pope has a Twitter account, you insensitive clod.

    5. Re:So by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      For a site filled with pedants, it's odd how many members forget the "stuff that matters" part of the slogan. The Catholic church has a membership of over 1 billion people, and a change in pope can affect how those people -- and especially their kids -- view certain issues, including scientific issues (albeit, the Catholics are nothing like evangelists).

    6. Re:So by isorox · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I reckon it's newsworthy when the leadership of a 1 billion-strong team is about to change.

      Does it have anything to do with technology at all?

      Because we don't get Slashdot articles saying "Happy Easter" or "welcome to Lent" and "Happy Hannukah".

      This has nothing to do with Slashdot.

      Big stories from slashdot's past
      * Kerry Concedes Election To Bush
      * Strike on Iraq
      * Barack Obama Wins US Presidency
      * Six Bomb Blasts Around Central London

      And not big enough to be in hof, but essential reading for me on the day -- pretty much the only website which stayed up as I dialed in from work on my 28.8 modem
      * World Trade Towers and Pentagon Attacked

      This beats the "news" that 1GB != 2^30 bytes in any case

  3. Pope starts using the internet by hsmith · · Score: 5, Funny

    and two months later quits his job. Coincidence? I think not.

    1. Re:Pope starts using the internet by bancho · · Score: 5, Funny

      He got promoted to mod on 4chan.

    2. Re:Pope starts using the internet by DrXym · · Score: 5, Funny

      He rage quit.

  4. What a quitter! by 91degrees · · Score: 5, Funny

    Noah lived to over 900, and he was building Arks into his 7th century.

    These modern God-botherers just don't have the stamina.

  5. In a Vatican Statement. by Dartz-IRL · · Score: 5, Funny

    In a statement released by the Vatican Today, it was announced that his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will step down with immediate effect. When asked for a reason, a spokesman for his former holiness suggested that he would like to spend more time with his wife and children.

    --
    So there I was, scribbling down some notes off the PC screen by hand, when I reached for the keyboard and Ctrl-S'd.
  6. Re:Why is this on slashdot? by negRo_slim · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm hoping it's viral marketing for the new iWatch from Apple.

    --
    On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
  7. Re:Why is this on slashdot? by SirGarlon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So abrasive atheists can whore for karma by railing against religion.

    --
    [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
  8. Re:Why is this on slashdot? by nospam007 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Why is this on slashdot?"

    It's about a guy who can talk to the cloud without any computer.

  9. Mea Maxima Culpa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Reading between the lines, I think HBO's recent "Mea Maxima Culpa" was probably a significant factor. His resignation will stave off the worst of the public outcry and demands for deeper revelations from the church about the matters raised there. Hopefully the Catholic Church will be pressed about the issues raised regardless, but his specific, key role in it all is the point at the moment.

    To recap what I read elsewhere: prior to being Pope, he was the head of the modern (renamed) Inquisition, assigned there by the previous pope. In that role, he "took charge" of the recent wave of priest sex abuse scandals since the 90s, ordered all evidence be centralized in his department's archives, and then basically hid it all and did little to actually act on the mountains of evidence they still haven't revealed to prosecutors or the public. It's pretty damning stuff.

    1. Re:Mea Maxima Culpa? by Maow · · Score: 5, Informative

      Reading between the lines, I think HBO's recent "Mea Maxima Culpa" was probably a significant factor. His resignation will stave off the worst of the public outcry and demands for deeper revelations from the church about the matters raised there. Hopefully the Catholic Church will be pressed about the issues raised regardless, but his specific, key role in it all is the point at the moment.

      To recap what I read elsewhere: prior to being Pope, he was the head of the modern (renamed) Inquisition, assigned there by the previous pope. In that role, he "took charge" of the recent wave of priest sex abuse scandals since the 90s, ordered all evidence be centralized in his department's archives, and then basically hid it all and did little to actually act on the mountains of evidence they still haven't revealed to prosecutors or the public. It's pretty damning stuff.

      The late, lamented Christopher Hitchens had possibly the ultimate take on the cover-up at Slate.com.

      To quote the appropriately entitled "The Great Catholic Cover-Up: The pope's entire career has the stench of evil about it":

      Very much more serious is the role of Joseph Ratzinger, before the church decided to make him supreme leader, in obstructing justice on a global scale. After his promotion to cardinal, he was put in charge of the so-called "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" (formerly known as the Inquisition). In 2001, Pope John Paul II placed this department in charge of the investigation of child rape and torture by Catholic priests. In May of that year, Ratzinger issued a confidential letter to every bishop. In it, he reminded them of the extreme gravity of a certain crime. But that crime was the reporting of the rape and torture. The accusations, intoned Ratzinger, were only treatable within the church's own exclusive jurisdiction. Any sharing of the evidence with legal authorities or the press was utterly forbidden. Charges were to be investigated "in the most secretive way ... restrained by a perpetual silence ... and everyone ... is to observe the strictest secret which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office under the penalty of excommunication." (My italics). Nobody has yet been excommunicated for the rape and torture of children, but exposing the offense could get you into serious trouble. And this is the church that warns us against moral relativism! (See, for more on this appalling document, two reports in the London Observer of April 24, 2005, by Jamie Doward.)

  10. Re:Why is this on slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Talking to the cloud without a computer is simple - anyone can do it. It's getting it to listen that's the hard part.

  11. Re:Why is this on slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So abrasive atheists can whore for karma by railing against religion.

    I'll bite.

    This molester-protecting fuck had the audacity to label transgendered people as 'abominations'.

    This is possibly not news for nerds; but certainly, if you've any humanity at all, his departure from his vile office is most definitely 'stuff that matters'.

  12. Re:Too bad... by Slider451 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Actually, by retiring before he dies, he gets a strong voice in selecting his successor. That, along with the fact that he's been carefully selecting like-minded cardinals the last several years, ensures the next pope will by very similar to Benedict.

    --
    Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
  13. Re:Why is this on slashdot? by tnk1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hah. Getting it to listen is easy, getting something useful back from it... now that is the real trick.

  14. Pull Your Head Out of Your Ass by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People are still making references to the mythical Great Catholic Altar Boy Molestation Conspiracy Project?

    Oh the "mythical conspiracy project"? Hmmm, let's see from the laundry list of cases we find:

    In July 2010, the Vatican doubled the length of time after the 18th birthday of the victim that clergymen can be tried in a church court and streamlined the processes for removing "pedophile priests."

    So they streamlined a process to cater to a "mythical conspiracy project?"

    People like you are what's wrong with organized religion and one of the primary reasons of why I am atheist. The people that run the Vatican and those in the past that have stood up and protected that power structure at all costs are fallible mortals. Shut up and deal with it or I'll throw you in with Scientology.

    And all those cases have dried up, right? Right? If you give money to the Roman Catholic church, that's what you're paying for, in part.

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Pull Your Head Out of Your Ass by Apathist · · Score: 5, Interesting

      People like you are what's wrong with organized religion and one of the primary reasons of why I am atheist. The people that run the Vatican and those in the past that have stood up and protected that power structure at all costs are fallible mortals. Shut up and deal with it or I'll throw you in with Scientology.

      I dunno about you, but I'm an atheist because there simply aren't any gods... but an anti-theist because of the way faith and religion makes people behave. Small difference, perhaps, but I wouldn't want people to believe that my objective interpretation of reality is merely a response to the way those pricks behave.

    2. Re:Pull Your Head Out of Your Ass by ClippyHater · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People like you are what's wrong with organized religion and one of the primary reasons of why I am atheist. Really? Strange, I would've thought a disbelief in the concept of a God would've made you an atheist. If you have a reason OTHER than that, then you need to seriously rethink your convictions (hint: belief in a God doesn't require believing in the "holy" organizations that claim to know what's "right.")

    3. Re:Pull Your Head Out of Your Ass by Damouze · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I dunno about you, but I'm an atheist because there simply aren't any gods... but an anti-theist because of the way faith and religion makes people behave. Small difference, perhaps, but I wouldn't want people to believe that my objective interpretation of reality is merely a response to the way those pricks behave.

      The very fact that you call it your interpretation of realitity makes it subjective by definition (nothing wrong with that by the way).

      We are all coloured by our experiences from the past. Our look at life is subjective at the core, because our brain interprets the data coming in through our senses whether we are aware of it or not. The best we can do is to strive for an as objective view of life as we possibly can. But even then our view of life is by definition, not objective, because of that little possessive pronoun preceding 'view of life'.

      --
      And on the Eighth Day, Man created God.
    4. Re:Pull Your Head Out of Your Ass by CODiNE · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There was this guy who wanted to debate me when I was volunteering at a religious function. He starts off with telling me he's an atheist and then proceeds to rant about why does God allow volcanos to go off and kill innocent children and whatnot...

      I try to be polite and reason with him but he's got serious anger issues with the idea of God and he's starting to make a scene. So I say to him "You know I read that true atheists are not angry at God, if he doesn't exist why are you mad at him?" He started laughing and then calmed down a bit. After that he identified as agnostic and I found out he grew up religious but basically couldn't reconcile the existence of evil and suffering in the world with his understanding of God. He ended up bitter and resentful. It's too bad he had all that emotional baggage and wasn't able to discuss it rationally, I much prefer an educated atheist over an angry pretender.

      --
      Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
    5. Re:Pull Your Head Out of Your Ass by LordLimecat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People like you are what's wrong with organized religion

      Right, cause things like this are rampant in every other religion, right?

      and one of the primary reasons of why I am atheist.

      If the 20th century has taught us anything, its that all religions are messed up and all atheists are cuddly kittens.
      --This message has been approved by Pol Pot and Stalin

      The RCC has a fair share of troubles, but that's largely a function of it abandoning any authority other than "what we say" all of those centuries ago. What do you suppose made up a huge portion of the grievances in Luther's 95 theses? Heres a hint, it starts "cor" and ends "ruption".

    6. Re:Pull Your Head Out of Your Ass by LordLimecat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      but an anti-theist because of the way faith and religion makes people behave.

      Anyone who has studied any sort of history knows that people need no excuse or justification to "misbehave"; its just that if excuses or justifications are available they will use them.

      Do you really think that the IRA bombings are purely religious? That the Holocaust wouldnt have happened without a religious target? That the people in the Westboro church would be cuddly kittens if only it werent for religion?

    7. Re:Pull Your Head Out of Your Ass by frosty_tsm · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I know this is going to kill my mod points, but I'll throw it out anyway...

      What if WWII wasn't the worst thing in the web of possible 20th century events? What if there was no WWII and the Cold War started pre or early-nuke with a (mostly) demilitarized Europe and America had minimal troops and arms factories setup (as is the case in almost every "somebody went back in time and killed Hitler" story)? What if the European powers continued pointless and frequent war, treating it as a sport as they did in the 19th century and before?

      If you look at WWII as the almost-inevitable epilogue to WWI due to the terms put on Germany, WWI/WWII were sort of the "War to end all wars [in Europe]" (ignoring smaller, regional conflicts). No one has invaded London, Paris, Berlin (although it was divided), Brussels, or Rome in almost 70 years.

    8. Re:Pull Your Head Out of Your Ass by mattack2 · · Score: 4, Informative

      since I know there is no way to demonstrate the existence of a god, I am, by definition, without a god -- an atheist

      Umm, no. By that definition, you are an agnostic.

      a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.

      I am an atheist because I *believe* there is no god, I am also an agnostic because I realize you can't *prove* there is no god.

  15. Re:Infallible? by tnk1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Infallibility doctrine does not apply to everything he says, just specific items of dogma that are specified, and those are usually fairly non-controversial items to believing Catholics.

    In other words, he's not expected to be perfect as a person, but after having duly deliberated on a matter of doctrine, that doctrine could be designated infallible. It's an authority that only the Pope gets to use, and he won't be Pope after he resigns.

  16. Re:Why is this on slashdot? by DeathToBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    AFAICT, for the same reason US presidential elections are covered on slashdot. It's got nothing to do with "news for nerds" but it matters to a very large number of people.

    --
    Slashdot - News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters, in ISO-8859-1 Has just realised that beta makes this signature redundant
  17. Re:Infallible? by characterZer0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    BTW why is he referred to as the "Pope". Other religious groups have popes too. Can we at least always refer to him as the "Catholic Pope".

    Because everybody knows to whom you are referring when you say "The Pope".

    How about an analogy:

    Why is he referred to as RMS? Other people have the initials RMS too. Can we at least always refer to him as "GNU/RMS"?

    --
    Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
  18. Pope Resigns? by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does this mean he's Ex Benedict?

    --

    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

  19. Re:Why is this on slashdot? by alexander_686 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Simple. The mathematical property of Transitive tells us:

    Slashdot likes conspiracy theories.
    Conspiracy theorist like news on the Catholic Church.
    Ergo, Slashdoters would be interested in this.

    For example, we all know that the reason why Linux has not succeeded is that the Knights Templar control Microsoft. The only way to break their control over the monetary system is to move to BitCoin.

    Or am I missing something here?

  20. Re:Too bad... by RobertNotBob · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Slider,

    Actually.....

    Recent history shows he doesn't have to resign early to affect his succession. If you were watching in 2005 you would know that Pope John Paul II did exactly that and basically put him (the current Pope) into office as his hand-picked successor. Look at nearly any picture of the previous Pope in the last few years of his life and you're see the the man who became Benidict XVI in the same frame.

    Not like this is any big scandal. - It's totally natural to be concerned about who takes over when you leave.

    AND, leaders (religious, political or even corporate) selecting others who are like minded is called "Organizational Consistency" and is not a ""bad word"" in most places.

    --
    ___ I don't respond to Anonymous Cowards, and I Never Mod them UP.
  21. Re:Why is this on slashdot? by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Why is this on slashdot?"

    It's about a guy who can talk to the cloud without any computer.

    Chuck Norris?

  22. Re:News for WHO, exactly? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is news because he is quite possibly the first religious figure to resign short of death, or a war in which thousands die.

    Umm, no.

    He's not even the first Pope to resign. Just the first in "nearly 600 years"....

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  23. Binding of adjectives to nouns in English by starfishsystems · · Score: 4, Funny

    Um, calling something an "objective interpretation" qualifies the kind of interpretation that's being attempted. It's like the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics. It's not intended to mean that the speaker is from Copenhagen.

    --
    Parity: What to do when the weekend comes.