Pope Benedict XVI to Resign: Northern Virginia Catholics React
The Catholic church head is first Pope to step down in 600 years. What's your reaction and where does the church go from here?
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Pope Benedict XVI announced on Monday that he will step down from his position Feb. 28, citing failing strength of “mind and body."
He will be the first pontiff to resign since 1415, the Washington Post reports. Pope Benedict visited Washington, DC in 2008.
"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 an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry," the Pope said in a statement.
"I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me."
Fourteen cardinals from North America are eligible to vote in the conclave for the next Pope, according to Catholic News Service, including Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington.
The greater Falls Church area is home to at least four Catholic churches, with residents attending St. James, St. Philip the Apostle, Saint Anthony and St. Ann.
Pope Benedict, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now 85, was selected in April 2005 after the death of the very popular and charismatic Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict was 78 at the time - the oldest person in more than 200 years chosen to head the church.
Benedict's reign has been distracted by clerical abuse scandals and Vatican internal struggles.
What's your reaction to the news? What should the Cardinals look for in the next Pope? Will we see the first non-European pontiff? How will the change affect Catholics around the world and right in your Northern Virginia church? Tell us in the comments below.
Bridget Mary Meehan
10:59 am on Monday, February 11, 2013
We are witnessing a “holy shakeup” in the Roman Catholic Church The Pope’s resignation is a positive sign that the Spirit is at work renewing the church. The people are the church and the majority will welcome Benedict’s resignation. The cover-up of the sex abuse scandal led to the Vatican and the Pope. We need a top down shakeup and new structures of accountability in the Roman Catholic Church. Married priests, women priests, are only a few of the necessary steps the Vatican needs to take in a more just and compassionate church that honors the gifts of God in the people of God of all faiths and no faith.
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
Co-Pastor of Mary Mother of Jesus Catholic Community, Sarasota, Fl.
941-955-2313
703-505-0004
sofiabmm@aol.com
www.arcwp.org
Kathleen Luisa
10:26 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The Church will continue, as it always has, under the direction of the Holy Spirit. I know the Holy Father made his decision with much prayer and faith. He is doing this for the good of the Church, but not for the reasons some will think. It saddens me that so few Catholics really know or understand (let alone appreciate) their faith. We are not "one of many" churches, but the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that Christ founded with His blood. As a priest once courageously said, the Church is in the world to change the WORLD, not to be changed by it. The Church will stand.
Kathleen Luisa
Falls Church, Va