Vatican City, February 16, 2010 (FBC) Pope Francis has said that it should not be “fashionable” for the Roman Catholic Church to resign rather than rule during his lifetime and should not happen only in exceptional circumstances.
The comments, made during a recent trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in private talks with fellow Jesus, are a departure from Francis’ earlier claims that longer life spans and medical advances could make retired popes a church institution.
La Stampa newspaper published the comments on Thursday in an article written by Father Antonio Spadaro, a Jesuit priest in Rome who attended the meetings and wrote about them with the Pope’s permission.
In the year On February 2nd in Kinshasa, media reports were asked that Francis might resign.
In the year Several months after his election in 2013, he reiterated comments he made to a Spanish newspaper in early December that he had given a Vatican official a letter of resignation that would be used if he were to become permanently unconscious and incapacitated if one day he suffered a serious illness. Making decisions.
Latest updates
See 2 more stories
“This in no way means that the retirement of popes should become fashionable and normal,” he said.
“I believe that the service of the Pope should be for life. I see no reason why this should not be the case… Historical tradition is important. Instead, if we listen to gossip, we should change the bishops every six months,” he said.
In the year In 2013, Pope Benedict became the first pope in 600 years to resign, citing poor physical and mental health.
He lived another 10 years, and, according to top aides, remained bright until Dec. 31, just days before his death.
Benedict continued to write and receive visitors who sometimes revealed what he said, a conservative and nostalgic Catholic faction unhappy with Francis’ papacy.
His nearly 10 years as pope were one of the most divisive periods in modern church history. Although Francis likened Benedict’s stay in the Vatican to having a grandmother in his house, a book written by Benedict’s closest aide revealed tensions between two men in white living in the tiny city-state.
Francis’ comments to the African Jesuits are different from those used by Francis in the past when discussing the possible rise of popes, including himself.
When he returned from Canada last July, Francis’ age and increasing ailments, including knee problems that required him to use canes and a wheelchair, made him realize he had to slow down or “decide to step aside.” He said the pope, who will step down in August, is humble.
In the year In 2014, Francis said that Benedict’s resignation a year earlier should not be seen as a “special case” and that Benedict’s resignation has become “an institution that has opened the door, the door of the leadership of the Pope.”
In a speech to the African Jesuits this month, Francis said that resigning for health reasons was “not on my agenda for now.”
Additional reporting by Francesca Psionieri; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
