Should the Pope Step Down?

The Pope is in pretty serious condition and I am wondering if he will ever recover enough to be productive and serve the Christian masses properly.

Is it possible for the Pope to step down and let a new Pope take his place? Or is it strictly "till death do us part"?

[edit on 26-2-2005 by jupiter869]

Yes, the pope can resign, but it is very rare. This recent article should interest you...click the link to read the entire story

www.cnn.com...

With Pope John Paul II's recent health crises, talk that he might consider resigning has intensified. Yet most popes have rejected that idea, even though the option remains available to them under church law.

The Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America and a Vatican expert, said popes worry that stepping down would set a dangerous precedent that could be misused by factions in the church to pressure a future pontiff to leave.

No pope has resigned for centuries.

Only he can step down and give the word. But the pope was to keep going until he dies, something he shouldnt, but he thinks he has to

If I had nothing but religion in my life and is my driving force, why quit being the king just because your in bad health?

And plus, He's the pope, he's close to the end. Might as well finish the ride as the pope.

Originally posted by E L E M E N T
If I had nothing but religion in my life and is my driving force, why quit being the king just because your in bad health?

And plus, He's the pope, he's close to the end. Might as well finish the ride as the pope.

Well, if you were the Pope maybe your first thought would be what is the best thing for the Christian community, not what is the best thing for you.

as I recall the last time a Pope resigned it ended in a big hooraw and several years of problems. of course that time he was forced to. just before the templar arrests

Man... this is the third time I've tried to post.

A short version of what I've written before:

The Pope is trying to show that humans have dignity and value even when they are not in perfect health or are old. He's trying to say that people shouldn't be swept aside when they are considered old. There's nothing egotistical about what he is doing... He's trying to send the message that the elderly and sick have value. He's trying to counter the purely materialistic and materialistic attitudes that many people have today.

My question is... Does the Pope need to resign? I grew up Catholic and still really do not know the kinds of responsibilities that go along with being the Pope. I have heard about his rulings on birth control and abortions but I do not understand if any stress he goes through as being the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Enlighten the ignorant please.

Originally posted by maverick7236
My question is... Does the Pope need to resign? I grew up Catholic and still really do not know the kinds of responsibilities that go along with being the Pope. I have heard about his rulings on birth control and abortions but I do not understand if any stress he goes through as being the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Enlighten the ignorant please.

He does not need to resign, but I am sure somewhere within the annals of the Vatican legal counsel, his papacy can be overridden by law, if he chose not to sign a document of abdication when they noticed his failing health. Vatican City after all is a sovereign nation with its own laws. And if the cardinals decide this is what is necessary, not a soul can challenge their position.

I will be very surprised if the Pope steps down. For one, that last Pope to step down was over 600 years ago and under extreme conditions. The current Pope has always taught of the trials, for man kind, that Christ went through before his death and what a wonderful gift that was. I believe that he will view this as his mission to stick it out, and serve man, until the end. It's interesting though, that the Church has no official rules on how to deal with a situation such as this. If I'm correct, a pope must verbally state his regignation in order to step down so if the current Pope never regains the use of his voice what will happen?

Though the pope Has many important jobs. The most important in our times is that of being a symbol. If he simple steps down he make the position seem more political. The pope is the God's representative on earth. That means that God chooses him and only God should remove him from that position. This is the spiritual idea behind the pappies.

How can anyone be inspired by the Pope as a leader of Christianity when all he can do is spend all of his energy simply clinging to his own life force? Sure, his tenacity to live and his desire for self-preservation are hugely inspiring, but we live in a world where Christians need guidance desperately. Guidance from someone who is aware of what is going on and has a grasp on the events going on in the world. No one can do that fully when their own health is so precarious that all their efforts have to be focused into that.

I appreciate his desire to live and set an example of a wonderful Christian. We are all inspired. Truly. But he is letting Christians down by not addressing the literally life-and-death situations which directly affect each and every soul on this planet on almost a day-to-day basis. The times we live in now are very different from when he assumed the Papacy. I personally think he isn't up to it and is letting everyone down by not being a responsible Pope.

Holden: The Pope is not the leader of Christianity, he is the leader of the Catholic Church and as such has done everything that needs to be done to prepare for this time. The basic precepts of the Catholic Church do not change and everything that we need to know from him is known and set in stone.

In addition, though this will be difficult to understand for many who are unfamiliar with it, there is practically nothing more powerful that a living being may do for the world than unite their sufferings with those of Christ for the almost incomphrehensible good it does for the salvation of the souls, both here and on the other side. He is not letting down the Catholic faithful, stepping down without truely believing that is what God wants him to (not man) would be.

It is not for us to speculate if he should step down, especially since there are few who truly understand the situation (and I include myself in that).