Musings in Ordinary Time: A “human-sized” papacy
(POSTED: 2/13/13) The last time a papacy ended, in April 2005, great crowds assembled in St. Peter’s Square. They kept vigil, watched and prayed, until it was over. Reportedly, John Paul II had said: “I have searched for you, and now you have come to me, and I thank you.” And then: “Let me depart to the house of the Father.”A week later, for the funeral, attendance at the Vatican and special sites around Rome reached into the millions. Many thundered: “Santo subito! Santo subito!” Make him a saint right now!
Today a papacy is once again ending. But this time the hero didn’t ascend into glory. Rather, in a scene so rare in Catholic history it was considered shocking, an old man very quietly and simply told us he was retiring.
On Monday morning, Feb. 11, Pope Benedict XVI sat before a consistory of cardinals who knew nothing of his plans. Speaking in Latin and draped in his red stole and ermine-lined mozzetta, the 85-year-old announced he was too aged and infirm to govern effectively. He informed the stunned assemblage that he would resign effective at 8 p.m. on Feb. 28, a little more than two weeks’ notice. His reign, coincidentally just slightly longer than that of the previous Benedict, the fifteenth (Sept. 3, 1914-Jan. 22, 1922), was now for all intents and purposes over.
It hadn’t happened this way in centuries. The last pope to resign, Gregory XII, stepped aside in 1415 after brokering a deal with the Council of Constance. The council was trying to resolve the 40-year Western Schism by squeezing out three competing popes of varying legitimacy. The last purely voluntary abdication, though, was that of Celestine V. An unworldly, grotto-dwelling hermit, elected in a fit of magical thinking after one of the longest and most excruciating conclaves in history, Celestine quickly realized he was in over his head and resigned in 1294.
I will not attempt to authoritatively sum up the legacy of Benedict XVI. I will say I bear Benedict no personal dislike. Like me, he is a shy theology geek, and I am partial to my own. But I will also say that, in my view, the open Catholicism in which I blossomed was a like a water valve that this pope did his best to shut off with a big wrench.
Yet I think Benedict has contributed unwittingly to Church reform. And, with no intent to seem crude or gauche, I think his resignation is that contribution.
John Paul II had been a force of nature, a titan in white, a rock star. He held onto his life and his role so tenaciously, dominating his stage so completely, that he sometimes seemed less Holy Father than Eternal Father. But Benedict XVI is admitting that, like so much else, being pope is a job: a special job, but a job. And when you are done, when you are well into your ninth decade, when you know it’s time, you are allowed to hang it up. Like other people.
The papacy is more human-sized now than it has been in a while. That may be an accidental achievement. But it’s an important one for the people of God. I’ll take it.
Justin Sengstock is a contributor to the books Hungering and Thirsting For Justice: Real-Life Stories by Young Adult Catholics and An Irrepressible Hope: Notes from Chicago Catholics, both published by ACTA in fall 2012. He writes about church and society at http://ivstinvs.wordpress.com and cross-posts much of his content at Young Adult Catholics. Justin works at Call To Action, has a theology degree from Loyola University Chicago, and lives in the south suburbs. He can be reached at Beginnings754@yahoo.com
I don’t know from “open Catholicism.” I do believe that our departing Holy Father saw to it that the necessary steps taken to address the open rebellion in our church, as exemplified by the likes of Fr. Roy Bourgeois, and others like him, were put into effect.