By the looks of things, Pope Benedict looks very healthy for 90!
VATICAN, June 29, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had a brief message for the Church's five new cardinals: "The Lord wins in the end."
The pope emeritus received the new cardinals along with Pope Francis. Pope Benedict removed his white zucchetto (papal skullcap) when Pope Francis entered. These sorts of appearances in front of media cameras are rare for the retired pope.
Is Pope Benedict suggesting the Lord isn't winning right now?
5 comments:
Benedict walked away and left us because he was tired and promised not to speak. He should remain quiet, take off that white cassock and go play his piano while the Church is burning down. Thanks Benedict.
So many think the Church is merely a human institution but they are wrong especially when they become disillusioned or cynical about her human leaders. But God's Divine Providence is inscrutable and confounds human thought and arrogance and Holy Mother Church is like Her Bridgegroom, one Divine institution with two natures human and Divine and The Lord always wins. And for this reiteration of the Truth I thank His Holiness, Pope Benedict.
I do wish he had simply turned over administration of the Vatican to a trusted cardinal, and designated a papal prefect to represent himself abroad. He could then have become a hermit pope, without renouncing the Petrine ministry.
The Church has been through some challenging times when it comes to the papacy and one such period I recently read about was a little after the middle of the 10th century.
Pope Leo VIII who was Pope from 23 June 964 to his death in 965, was elected by a synod convened by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I which uncanonically deposed John XII. As he was still a layman, in the space of a day Leo was ordained Ostiarius, Lector, Acolyte, Subdeacon, Deacon and Priest by the cardinal-bishop Sico of Ostia, who then proceeded to consecrate him as Bishop of Rome.
After an uprising by the Roman people which saw John XII return to the papacy, Leo subsequently fled to Otto I. John convened a synod which in turn deposed Leo, with John also excommunicating him. Leo remained with Otto, and, with the death of John XII , the Romans elected Pope Benedict V. Otto proceeded to besiege Rome, taking Leo with him, and when the Romans eventually surrendered to Otto, Leo was reinstalled in the Lateran Palace as pope. Benedict V was then brought to Germany, where he was under the care of Archbishop Adalgag of Hamburg until his death on July 4 of the following year. Initially buried in the cathedral at Hamburg, his remains were eventually moved to Rome.
Post a Comment