I'm sorry, that's a post title from next month.
I refer, of course, to the news this morning that the Pope Benedict XVI will be resigning by the end of February. You can read about it HERE.
I don't think that a sitting Pope has resigned for reasons of health in hundreds of years, so this really is news, of a sort.
What's next? Well according to the Church, God only favors old, white, European guys to run His Church on Earth, so I'd say look for another old, white, European guy to be elected Pope. Yes, there will be a short-list candidate who isn't a white guy, and it's entirely possible that a Cardinal from Latin America may be seriously considered for the job, but in the end the next Pope will be another old white guy who will no doubt be European. Remember, this is a Church that only within the past 40 years decided that the old white guy elected Pope didn't have to be Italian. God must really like Italy.
On a deeper level we could probably contemplate why the Creator of the Universe only believes that, among His creations, only old white European guys are fit for the job of running His Church. Is God that concerned about gender? About age? About Ethnicity? Or maybe, just maybe, those are human considerations and constraints? I don't know, and those are questions which are pretty much above my pay grade in terms of providing an answer. Suffice to say though that every change is an opportunity, so here's the hoping that this change in leadership for the Roman Catholic Church yields positive results for the faithful.
2 comments:
good decision, it is not correct to see good man leaving the world while holding a post that he is.
Thanks for commenting Sher. I'm not sure I completely understand your point of view, but that's okay. Personally I am glad that the Pope has decided to step down. It was difficult to watch the former Pope, John Paul II, basically decay in office in front of the world. Having the courage to admit that he lacks the strength to lead is a surprisingly strong admission from the head of an institution that really isn't very good in the "admission" department.
Regards,
- Steve
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