I was terribly shocked and saddened to wake up today to learn of the decision by our beloved holy father to walk away from his ministry due to his advanced age.
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. 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.
Pope Benedict XVI is a singularly good, just, brilliant, and loving man – a true exemplar of all the good that our Church encompasses. He is humble, kind, loving, and, most importantly, he is unflinchingly faithful in a world drifting farther and farther daily from God. He is exactly the man we needed in these times. Before ascending to the papacy, he was instrumental in addressing and redressing the sexual abuse of children – which he rightly called “filth” – in the Church. He has steadfastly stood up for our faith against the increasingly overwhelming onslaught of secularism. He attacked the relativism, sinfulness, and amorality of the world head on. He has stood for Christ with rock-solid theology and generosity of heart in these times when we are so desperately in need of Christ and his eternal loving word. He will be a doctor of our Church, and perhaps a saint. And, as an insight my fiancée, his decision is a courageous and humble one. He is doing what he feels is best for his service to God and the Church.
The New York Times, meanwhile, continues a tradition of hard-hitting groundbreaking journalism with the shocking news that Pope Benedict XVI was – shock! – Catholic:
When he took office, Pope Benedict’s well known stands included the assertion that Catholicism is “true” and other religions are “deficient”; that the modern, secular world, especially in Europe, is spiritually weak; and that Catholicism is in competition with Islam. He had also strongly opposed homosexuality, the ordination of female priests and stem cell research.
And as evidence of the dire need in this world for loving godly men such as the holy father, behold the unhinged hatred on display on Twitter: Pope Benedict XVI resigns and moral cretins tweet hate, death wishes; Resign by ‘slitting your wrists’
I pray for these hateful people who are so very far from God’s love, even as I pray for the well-being, health, and happiness of our beloved Papa.
{ 0 comments }
