| | | OFFLINE | | Post: 26.256
Post: 8.748 | Registrato il: 28/08/2005
Registrato il: 20/01/2009 | Administratore | Utente Master | |
|
Cardinal Sodano's words
to the Holy Father
after the announcement
Translated from the Italian service of
February 11, 2013
At the end of today's public consistory for the canonization of new saints, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, spoke the following words to the Holy Father:
Holiness, beloved and venerated Successor of Peter, your emotional message has reverberated in this hall like lightning from a clear blue sky.
We heard you with a sense of disorientation, almost of total incredulity. In your words, we see the great affection that you have always had for the Holy Church of God, for this Church that you have loved so much.
Now allow me to say in the name of this apostolic gathering, the College of Cardinals, of all of us who are your dearest collaborators, allow me to say that we feel even more close to you now than we have been in all these luminous eight years of your Pontificate.
On April 19, 2005, if I remember well, at the end of the Conclave, when I asked you, with trepidation even on my part, "Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?", you did not hesitate, although with equal trepidation, to respond, saying you accepted, trusting in the grace of the Lord and the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church.
Like Mary, that day you gave your Yes and began your luminous Pontificate in the sign of continuity, that continuity in the history of the Church of which you have often spoken to us, in continuity with your 264 predecessors on the Chair of Peter over the course of 2000 years of history, from the Apostle Peter, the humble fisherman from Galilee, to the great Popes of the last century starting with St. Pius X to Blessed John Paul II.
Holy Father, before the 28th of February - which as you said is the day on which you wish to put an end to your Pontifical service which you have done carried out with so much love, so much humility - before that day, we shall be able to express our sentiments to you much better.
As will so many pastors and the faithful all over the world, as will all men of good will, and the authorities of all nations.
This month we will have the joy of hearing your voice as Pastor, on Ash Wednesday two days from now, on Thursday when you speak to the clergy of Rome, in the Angelus of the coming Sundays, and in the Wednesday audiences. So there will be many more occasions to hear your paternal voice.
But your mission will continue. You said that you will always be close to us in witness and in prayer. The stars in heaven will always continue to shine, just as the star of your Pontificate will continue to shine among us.
We are close to you, Holy Father. Bless us.
Father Lombardi's
initial news briefing
Translated from the Italian service of
February 11, 2013
"The Pope took us all by surprise on a day which for the Vatican is, shall we say, a festive day [It is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, as well as the World Day for the Sick, which observance is centered to day in Benedict XVI's beloved Marian shrine to Our Lady of Graces in Altoetting - we can all reflect on why he chose this day to make this announcement], and so we have had to organize ourselves, so to speak, in a very short time for this very important situation".
So spoke Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, director of the Vatican Press Office, to begin a briefing during which he gave a few more data about the resignation announced by the Holy Father.
As many of you know, this morning he called an ordinary public consistory regarding some causes for canonization during which a date was set for the canonization. On this occasion, as in such public consistories, all the cardinals present in Rome and who could physically attend, were invited to take part, and so there were quite a number of cardinals present {in addition to the cardinal members of the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood).
The Pope chose this particularly significant occasion, with the presence of many members of the College of Cardinals, to give his announcement.
He said that he had repeatedly examined his conscience before God. This was therefore a personal decision, a profound one, taken in prayer before the Lord from whom he received the mission he is carrying out. And he came to the certainty that his remaining strength in his advanced age no longer allows him to to exercise the Petrine ministry in an adequate way. So the examination of conscience regarded his strength to continue the job.
He goes on to say that he is well aware that this ministry is spiritual by its nature and that it must be carried out not just by deeds and words but also with suffering and prayer. So there is a function of suffering and prayer in this ministry.
Among the reasons for his resignation, as he said in his words, are that the circumstances in today's world when compared to the past are much more demanding for the speed and the number of problems that must be faced, and therefore, shall we say, the demand for much greater strength to face them. A strength that the Pope says has diminished greatly in him in the past few months.
This statement is significant: "Well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter..."
This, we might say, is a formal declaration that is important from the juridical point of view. The Code of Canon Law, Canon 332, Paragraph 2, says: "In case that the Roman Pontiff should renounce his office, it is required for its validity that the renunciation be made freely and must be manifestly so stated. It is not required that anyone accepts it".
The two fundamental points are therefore that the resignation is freely done and its due manifestation. Freedom and public manifestation - as the public consistory was at which the Pope made known his intention.
Benedict XVI will remain in the full functions of his office and service until February 28 at 8:00 pm. From that moment, the situation will be a sede vacante which is regulated from the juridical and canonical point of view by the texts that refer to a sede vacante in the Code of Canon Law and in the Apostolic Constitution Universi dominici gregis by John Paul II.
The Pope's statement is consistent with what he said to Peter Seewald in the book-length interview Light of the World in 2010, in which there were two questions specifically referring to the hypothetical resignation of a Pope.
Seewald asked the first question in relation to difficult situations weighing on his Pontificate, and if the Pope had ever thought of resigning. His answer was: "When he danger is great, one cannot flee, and that is why certainly, now is not the time to resign. (The reference had to with the sex-abuse scandals). It is precisely at times like this that one must resist and overcome the difficulty. This is what I think: One can resign at a time of serenity, or when one can no longer do the job, but one cannot leave at the moment of danger and say, 'Let somebody else take care of it'.{
So the Pope said that difficulties are not a reason to resign but rather not to resign.
The second question of Seewald: "Therefore is there a conceivable situation which you might consider opportune for a Pope to resign?" And the Pope's answer was: "Yes, when a Pope comes to a clear awareness that he is no longer physically, mentally and spiritually able to carry out the responsibility entrusted to him, then he has the right, and even in some circumstances, the duty to resign".
When the sede vacante begins, Benedict XVI will be transferring first to Castel Gandolfo, and afterwards, when the preparations are done, at the monastery of the cloistered nuns in the Vatican.
Personally, I greeted the announcement of the Pope's resignation with great admiration, for the great courage, the spiritual freedom and the great consciousness of his responsibility in the Petrine ministry.
Benedict XVI has offered us a great testimonial of spiritual freedom, of a great awareness of the problems of governing the Church in the world today.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/02/2013 19:41] |