Last Monday morning, Pope Benedict XVI shocked and confused the Catholic community around the world when he confirmed his plans to vacate his position at the end of the month, due to his age and declining health.
His decision to leave came just days before the start of what the Catholic Church views as the most important time of the year: the Lenten season, which began Feb. 13 with Ash Wednesday.
Benedict gave his resignation in a meeting with Vatican cardinals Monday morning. Being the Pope and leading over one billion Roman Catholics throughout the world calls for “both strength of mind and body,” he explained, in the Church’s Latin language, that his current health has rendered him unable to carry out his papal duties at this time.
Benedict told cardinals in the Vatican that the decision was not made lightly, and came only after extensive prayer and discussion with God. “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 lead the Catholic Church],” he said according to the Associated Press.
Benedict is the first of his position to resign in 600 years, and is certainly the first to resign for what could be considered personal reasons; the last pope to do so was Pope Gregory XII in 1415, who resigned his position in a deal to end The Great Western Schism.
Benedict first took his place in the Vatican in 2005 at the age of 77 after Pope John Paul II’s death, after over 26 years of service. Comparatively, Benedict served for only 8 years and was the oldest cardinal to accept the position in over 300 years.
Benedict intends to take his leave on Feb. 28, leaving the Roman Catholic Church without a leader at perhaps its most crucial time. While the Church intends to have elected a new pope by Easter at the end of March, there is no guarantee of that happening; a Papal election is unlike the Presidential one in that there is no real time limit.
120 voters will be selected from the 209 members of the College of Cardinals. The selection of who will be allowed to participate is based on age (any cardinal turning 80 before Benedict vacates his position on the 28th is illegible) and region, with a specific number of cardinals chosen from Africa (10), Asia (12), North America (20), South America (13), and Europe (61).
Sometime between March 15 and March 20, the selected cardinals will be shut inside of a locked Sistine Chapel within the Vatican, and cut off from the outside world until a new pope has been selected from among them.
Also unlike a democratic election, the pope is not chosen by majority rule but by a unanimous decision. This is only overturned if the cardinals have remained locked inside for 12 days and have still not chosen a new leader; from there, majority rule will be trusted.
Each time the votes are counted, smoke will be released from the Vatican: black to signify that a new pope has not been found, and white to tell the public that there is a new pope to lead them.
Kiersten McMonagle is a third-year student majoring in communication studies with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at KM745613@wcupa.edu.