Pope Francis has said that the pope resigning instead of ruling for life should not become “fashion” in the Roman Catholic Church and happen only in truly exceptional circumstances.
The comments, made in private conversations with fellow Jesuits during a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were a departure from previous comments in which Francis said longer life and medical improvements could make a retired Pope an institution in the Church.
La Stampa newspaper published the comments on Thursday in an article by Father Antonio Spadaro, a Rome-based Jesuit priest who attended the meetings and wrote about them with permission from the pope.
On February 2 in Kinshasa, Francis was asked about media reports that he might resign.
He repeated comments he first made to a Spanish newspaper in December that a few months after the election in 2013 he gave Vatican officials a letter of resignation to use if one day he suffered a severe medical condition that would render him permanently unconscious and unable to work. make a decision.
“It’s not, but, by all means, a retired whale should be a fashion, a normal thing,” he said.
“I believe that the papacy should be for life. I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be like that … historical tradition is important. If we listen to rumors, then we should change the pope every six months,” he said.
In 2013, Pope Benedict, citing poor physical and mental health, became the first pope to resign in 600 years.
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He lived for almost 10 more years, and, according to a top aide, remained lucid until a few days before his death last December 31.
Benedict continues to write and receive visitors, who sometimes reveal what he says, catering to conservative and nostalgic Catholic factions who are unhappy with Francis’ papacy.
His nearly 10 years as pope emeritus was one of the most watershed periods in the history of the modern Church. Although Francis has often compared Benedict living in the Vatican to having a grandfather at home, a book by Benedict’s closest aide reveals the strain when the two men in white live in the small city-state.
The tone of Francis’ comments to the African Jesuits was very different from the ones Francis has used in the past when discussing possible resignations from popes, including himself.
Returning from Canada last July, Francis said that his age and ailments, including knee problems that force him to use a cane and a wheelchair, made him realize that he must slow down “or decide to get rid of it”. In August, he said the pope’s resignation was modest.
In 2014, Francis said that Benedict’s resignation a year earlier should not be seen as a “unique case” and that by resigning, Benedict had become “an institution that opens its doors, the door of popes emeritus”.
In a conversation with Jesuit Africa this month, Francis said his resignation for health reasons was “not on my agenda at the moment”.
Source: Reuters
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