Lenten Sacrifice

Pope Benedict XVI has announced his abdication from the papacy effective February 28. What may be common among Dutch queens is unheard of in the Vatican; the last pope to abdicate did so in 1415 to end a schism that divided the Catholic Church on political rather than theological grounds and had produced rivals to the throne of Peter. (To understand the Great Schism, imagine if the red states recognized Mitt Romney as President.)

The pope - it is not clear whether he would become Joseph Ratzinger again after he steps down - will be 86 in April, and he's been slowing down considerably. In fact, it hasn't been a question of whether he would step down, but when. He was chosen specifically because of his advanced age - after 27 years of Pope John Paul II, no one wanted another interminable pontificate any time soon - but the cardinals probably expected him to die with the shoes of the fisherman on. But Benedict can't handle the many problems in the Church that he inherited, from clerical pedophilia to the role of women in the Church to the overall declining membership. Not only did he have the misfortune of assuming the unsolved problems of the Johannpauline era (as I call the reign of John Paul II), but he proved to have little ability to resolve any of them. Nor has he really built upon John Paul's incredible record of evangelizing across the globe, promoting a culture of respect for life in all forms, and ending Communism - which, as I noted earlier on this blog, was tough for any successor to follow.

The Vatican needs someone at the helm to flush out the rot in the Church, modernize it for the twenty-first century, and really bring it back to its basic functions of offering salvation, upholding human dignity, and helping the less fortunate. The next pope should also take the name of Linus II, in honor of Peter's first successor, as an indication that Rome is ready to start over.