Why Pope Benedict should not have been allowed to resign

Serious break with tradition only pleases the critics of church

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Pope Benedict XVI

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In what some are calling a display of divine displeasure at the pope’s decision to resign, a bolt of lightening struck the Cross atop the dome of Peter’s Basilica in Rome only hours after the Pope’s shocking announcement. The pope’s decision left Catholics confused and bewildered as to the direction in which the Church is now headed.

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“Quo Vadis” is a Latin phrase meaning “Where are you going.” It refers to the encounter between St. Peter (the first pope) and Jesus Christ on the Appian Way. Peter, fleeing from the persecutions and likely crucifixion of the Emperor Nero had a vision of Christ whom he asked "Domine, quo vadis?" Jesus answered him, "Whither I go, thou can not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards" (John 13:36). Peter understood this to mean that Jesus was going back to Rome to be crucified again. Peter, following his own fate, returned to Rome and was crucified at the foot of the Vatican Hills where St Peter's Basilica stands today.

Is Pope Benedict XVI on the same Appian Way today fleeing the wolves? The last pope John Paul II suffered from such physical disabilities and spiritual tortures at the end of his papacy that he could no longer hide them from public view. But he did not abandon the barque of Peter. Instead he allowed his scourged body to be held up as a testament to his faith and trust in God - just as Christ did when he stood before Pilate and the rebel crowd. Even when pressured several times to resign from those both inside and outside the Church, Pope John Paul II did not cave in to the wolves’ demands. Rather, he used their taunts as an opportunity to teach us how “Christ, [in his  hour of darkness],  did not come down from the cross.” He taught us: “Now is the time to work, heaven is the time to rest.” So where is Benedict going at this late hour? Did he perhaps receive a vision altogether different from that of Peter?

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Many in the Church - especially  those who previously applauded Pope John Paul II’s fortitude in embracing his papacy - are now, in rather stark  reversal, favorably comparing Pope Benedict XVI’s abdication with that of the abdications of Pope Celestine V and Pope Gregory XII. However, contrary to the pundits these were exceptional cases. Celestine V,  resigned after having been snatched by force from his hermit’s cell. Gregory XII, was forced to resign in order to resolve the very serious issue of the Great Western Schism. Where is the exception in  Benedict XVI’s case? His intellectual faculties of fully intact. His health, according to Holy See Press Office director Fr. Federico Lombardi,  is “generally good”. Is there something more we are not being told? Every pontiff experiences a certain human inadequacy in fulfilling the office of the Vicar of Christ. But the Holy Spirit is most assuredly guaranteed to stay with the pope  from the time he is elected to the very end of his pontificate. Most likely only the pope will ever know for sure if  he has chosen to  follow the will of God or the will of man.

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