Normally editorial pages of great newspapers regard with suspicion anyone with rival claims to infallibility. In the case of Pope Benedict XVI, however, we find ourselves struck by the great courage and selflessness of his decision to step down from the chair of St. Peter.
We suspect many of the faithful may find a papal abdication more unsettling than a papal death. Over the centuries, Catholics have known popes who have been martyred, popes who have been kidnapped, popes who have endured all manner of suffering. The last time a pope voluntarily resigned his office was way back in 1294.
That’s what you would expect from an office that calls to mind the challenge Jesus put to his Apostles: Can you drink from the cup of my suffering?
So in Pope Benedict’s resignation we see heroism. He explained his decision simply: “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.”
It strikes us that in these words are a recognition of today’s new realities. Modernity has brought a longer human lifespan — but it has also meant increased demands on the papacy. Pope Benedict no doubt believes that the cost to the faithful of an incapacitated pope is unacceptably high; having reached that conclusion, he is now following through in the way we have come to expect: with no regard for ego.
This is the cross given Joseph Ratzinger, and he has shown his love for his church by embracing it. On this sad day, we salute the humble priest from Bavaria who became pope — and the great gift of his witness for all men and women of goodwill.