" priests, because they are radical dedicated to God, renounce marriage and family. Entering the church means giving up your own center of life, and accepting only God alone as support and guarantee of his own life." Pope Benedict XVI " dear brothers priests, without you humanity would be less big and less beautiful. All of you, hidden and forgotten priests, you that society sometimes despise, you who are faithful to the promises of your coordination, you make the powers of this world shake." Cardinal Robert Sarah #DesProfondeursDeNosCoeurs
My opinion only...only God knows. I am in the opinion that Our Holy Father Benedict knew the next pope was going to take us on a dangerous path. What if through dreams, visions, deductions, visionaries, the Vatican library...Pope Benedict understood the next Pope was going to go against traditions of church. Maybe Pope Benedict had some type of knowledge and thought by retiring he could still battle the changes that were coming. We can all speculate but I think this is more spiritual then corporeal. Interesting topic...but the spiritual battle going on is real.
I greatly appreciate your insight. I began to suspect in Mass this morning, I bet devout Catholics felt the same in the mid 60s as we do today.
I’ve felt for a long time now that BXVI had a mystical experience whereby God told him to step aside because the sins of man required in justice a chastisement through which God would restore His Church, prior to the final evangelization, and that PF is an integral part of that chastisement.
Brian I thought so too and said so to friends at the time. I believe he was invited to offer up a white martyrdom for the Church. I think his exile has been very painful.
Yes, I agree. PEB is suffering terribly, you can see it in his eyes. I hope that he has kept a secret journal that will be placed into safe hands upon his passing. The faithful would be blessed to know his story. He could very well be a great saint.
I have the same sense. There are NO coinsidences or divine mistakes in the Church. We have Francis for a divine reason.
Pope Benedict retired as Pope. But I recall when Pope St John Paul was dying of the disease that killed him he refused to retire. When asked why he replied that that the Papal Office is a Patrimony... given by God an inheritance....not a job.. which is why no Pope's ever , 'Retires'. Pope Benedict then is subject to God's Justice for leaving down the Sceptre which was his to hold... I may seem harsh on this.. ...but it is the simple truth.. ..he should never, ever have retired but he did. That is why the devil who holds the office he ran away from got in, I said this on the forum at the time. Benedict was never meant to retire. He ran away/ If he retired because of ill health how come he is still alive all these many years later? Popes don't retire; they die in office. If Benedict had not retired we would not have got stuck with Pope Francis. Pope Francis would currently be in a nursing home somewhere in Argentina. No one would ever have heard of him.
Don't go placing Pope Benedict on some kind of pedestal. It's the simple truth. He ran away. He's still running away. The latest book withl Sarah is claw back. He's starting to realise that. He faces a long dark Purgatory he'll have to do better than this. He should have denounced Pope Francis years ago. He never did. May God forgive him
Popes are not meant to retire. Popes are not meant to retire. Popes are not meant to retire. Popes are not meant to retire.
Yes, and there was that unholy, unCatholic belief that PEB held about a "bifurcated" Papacy. I can't unwrap that out of my mind, either. That's unheard of. Have mercy, Lord.
This has been bothering me ever since he and Cardinal Sarah announced their book. Why didn't he speak up sooner? Why this particular issue and why now?
Either you speak up. Or you don't speak up. Either you make a stand or you don't. Either you throw the punch. Or you don't. You either blink ..or not. I'm fond of Donald Trump for this. Right or wrong ; he places his money on the cards. He doesn't hedge his bets. You're a long time dead. Say it like it is.
I am only suggesting that so much is manipulated by the media and by whatever evil has penetrated the hierarchy, that it is hard to get at what is real. I find a lot of the conservative media very hateful. If Pope Francis is indeed carrying out God’s plan I do not want to be a part of disparaging him. And just because he has an atheist he considers a friend doesn’t mean they are on the same team. I have many atheist friends and feel a great responsibility to use my life to show them Gods love.
I have been pondering your thoughts. I hear you Padraig, Popes don't retire, that is why his resignation is truly an unsolved mystery to me. I wish I could be as sure as you, and perhaps I'm not ready to accept it, but I just have a nagging doubt that everything leading up to Benedict's resignation has not yet been revealed to us. That said, I still hold out hope that theres is a chance that God's will, and Benedict's acceptance of His will, may have played a role in the resignation. When someone leaves a job they generally move on. If he really wanted to' run away' then why remain on Vatican property, refer to himself as Pope Emeritus Benedict, and be some sort of shadow Pope? Unless of course there is something very sinister at play that forced him to remain within Vatican walls, and this is entirely possible. Did he resign to save himself? Did he resign because what he discovered was so bad he just threw up his hands in defeat? Did he just throw the faithful to the wolves? In any case this is very, very bizarre, and beyond the capacity of my little mind to understand. All of this is extremely difficult to accept for a simple Catholic like me. I remain hopeful, and pray for enlightenment.
PBXVI showed his ego side when he won the papacy. It showed up when he came forward on the balcony to meet the world- look at YouTube video of him which his eyes showed it. I didnt notice it until few years later. It turned me off. Then cardinal ratzinger at CDF sat on abuses files for 30 years or more as he couldn't sanction maciel when JPII was then a pope. Maciel was abusing it onwards from 1940's, 1950's. He even didn't disband nor close down completely on legionnaires of christ. That organisation is still here. I heard one story and asked them via friend but they shut it down straight away when my friend asked it around. Cos it will lose the vatican millions of money if they went ahead to close it down. Also PBXVI would have known fully about Mc Carrick's history but did nothing nor protest it. When he became a pope as he proceed to sanction Maciel but he didn't defrock him just like PF did to Mc Carrick. PBXVI left Mc Carrick alone even let him get on with his job as a cardinal. Cardinal ratzinger sat on Fr Murphy file since 1950's as fr Murphy went on to abuse sexually well over 200 deaf kids. It was a huge indictment on Ratzinger in my eyes. Fr Murphy was allowed to appeal and keep his collar just because he was dying and sick.. Not even one mention of defrocking nor an apology coming from PBXVI to deaf kids and their parents/relative. HE (murphy) brought lot money to the church which was a key factor just like Maciel brought it to JPII and the vatican. Look at the movie called,' mea maxima culpa' powerful hard hitting documentary. It brought home to me that any pope,cardinal or bishops whose statement or their words cannot be trusted ever cos they knew it all the time and kept it schtum for years until FOI letters hit home for us too see it ourselves. Even fr B Smyth whose sexual activities was flagged way back in 1965 when a German priest reported it but fr Smyth was allowed to carry on as if nothing had happened. Card Ratzinger didn't EVEN defrock him considering Fr Smyth chequered history of abuses. He sat on that file until the public brought it to govt attention. Heard one relative of the abused asked the monks to delete 'reverend' on Smyth gravestone which the relatives did to their credit. Finally there are lot of question marks on PBXVI as plenty of skeletons in his closet. We will never know the full truth of it just because church thrives on total secrecy.
