THE Pope’s resignation as of yesterday
is a unique moment in the history
of the Roman Catholic Church.
While there have been papal resignations
before, none has been quite like this. In
any event, there have only been three other
resignations by popes over the last 2,000
years.
The New York Times reports that Pope
Celestine V, a hermit and recluse, had reluctantly
accepted the position in 1294 and resigned
after three months. He died in prison
and was declared a saint in 1313.
Benedict IX was notorious for licentious
behaviour and sold his papacy to Gregory VI
who essentially bribed him to get it in 1045.
Gregory, in turn, was removed from the papacy
by the Council of Bishops who called
for his resignation for having obtained the
papacy by bribery.
More recently, Pope Gregory XII resigned
in 1415 but that was during the time of the
Great Western Schism. Three rival popes
had been selected by separate factions of the
church and this resignation opened the way
for a unified papacy.
In this case, Pope Benedict XVI has basically
retired at the age of 85, having come
“...to the certainty that my strengths...are no
longer suited to...the Petrine ministry”.
The last will and testament of John Paul
II, Benedict’s immediate predecessor, revealed
that he too had privately considered
resigning in 2000, as his health deteriorated.
Eventually, he must have decided against it.
It is clear that this pope, having seen and
lived through the deteriorating health of
his predecessor and out of concern for the
papacy, decided to step aside in favour of
someone who would be able to cope more
adequately with the rigours of that office.
In doing so, a man renowned for his traditional
views and his conservatism has made
a revolutionary decision. One historian, in
the Wall Street Journal, referred to his decision
as a “real act of courage”.
This could not have been an easy decision.
There are reports that the decision had
been made several months ago but Benedict
obviously would have reflected and prayed
over this matter intensely over that time
before his announcement.
Our prayers are with him
as he goes through this period
of transition.
His papacy has had
mixed reviews. His comments
on Islam, the handling
of the sex abuse
scandals in the church
and the “Vatileaks” scandals
which showed behind-
the-scenes Vatican
intrigue caused one writer
in the Financial Times
to describe his legacy as
tainted.
He also seemed incapable
of dealing with
the several financial
problems relating to the
church’s inability to deal
with the AMI/CFT weaknesses
which have caused
financial institutions to
no longer accept online
transactions originated through the Vatican’s
bank.
On the positive side, the Financial Times
reports that despite having run the Vatican
agency that enforces theological discipline,
Benedict emerged as being less inflexible
than many had feared. He highlighted concerns
such as the promotion of justice for
women, children and the world’s poor and
he approved a pontifical document intended
to create stricter regulation of the financial
industry. The Times also went on to report
that he displayed balanced instincts in his
overtures to China, Cuba
and Vietnam.
History has not yet
had the final word on his
papacy and, in the coming
months, the question of
his leadership and managerial
capability will undoubtedly
come under
scrutiny as well as the political
instincts which are
required to manage the
affairs of the Vatican and
the diverse flock to which
the church administers.
Unfortunately, the verdict
will be given by researchers
who themselves
would never have reached
the heights that Benedict
himself reached and who
would therefore not fully
comprehend the complexity
and risk in the decision
matrices that would
have confronted the pope.
Benedict can take some comfort in the
fact that even Jesus Christ’s ministry was
the subject of criticism in his day. Even
though he healed the sick, fed the hungry,
gave life to the dead and comforted the afflicted,
he was condemned to death by the
crowd (who chose him to be crucified instead
of Barabbas), he was reviled by the
scribes and priests of the day and had to
choose only 12 disciples and he included one
who would betray him (a choice which vindicates
every HR manager in business today
who hires the wrong person). It would be
interesting to see how the media, had there
been one at the time, would have reported
on his ministry.
It is clear that the changing conditions
in the world require a re-thinking of
the governance model of the Roman
Catholic Church. In several societies,
the monarchical structure has changed to
allow for a monarch as titular head of state
and a democratically elected prime minister
representing the executive arm. While this
model cannot be followed exactly, it gives an
idea as to how the papacy can be modelled. I
would suggest that the role be split between
a spiritual leader, who remains the pope and
the new position of a temporal leader who
has the responsibility for governing and
managing the affairs of the church.
This would insulate the pope and the papacy
from the scandals and exposes of modern
life and allow the pope to focus on spiritual
affairs. In effect rendering unto Caesar
the things that are Caesar’s and unto God,
the things that are God’s. It is unlikely that
this will occur this time but perhaps it can
be a model for consideration over the next
few years.
Whatever the decision, the church remains
a significant influence in the affairs
of the world and we therefore wish his successor
well. Whoever is chosen will need the
prayers of the 1.2 billion global membership
of the church if he is to steer a successful
course in addressing the many challenges
which the church faces today.
Larry Howai is Minister of Finance