The news of the Pope's Withdrawal has caught us all off guard, since it was not possible to deduce from gestures or words of the Pontiff such a purpose. However, it is a decision not only long meditated, but also presented by Benedict XVI "after having repeatedly examined my conscience before God," according to his words yesterday. He has taken it freely and has expressed it formally, as foreseen by the canon law of 1983 for the case of the papal Withdrawal . It is presented as an act of humility, in view of the fact that his physical conditions no longer allow him to carry out his important task well.
The pontifical position will be vacant as of February 28. As foreseen by the 1997 canonical electoral law, the high school of Cardinals will be in charge of managing the interim status and electing Benedict XVI's successor.cessor of Benedict XVI. It is established that the election will take place between 15 and 20 days after the beginning of the vacancy (Universi Dominici Gregis, n. 37).
Thus, the electoral conclave would begin between March 15 and 20. Up to 120 cardinals will be able to vote in it, provided they have not reached the age of 80 before February 28. The majority to elect the Pope is two thirds of the votes. The elected pope (not necessarily one of the cardinals) must freely accept the position and, from that moment, will be bishop of Rome and pastor of the universal Church.
The status of a Pope who Withdrawal has hardly any precedent in the history of the Church. Apart from a few cases in the first millennium, the best known case is that of Pope Celestine V who resigned the Roman See in 1294, just a few months after being elected. At the same time, the news of the pontifical Withdrawal poses to the Church the status of knowing how to coexist with the new Pope emeritus, but this is not the only way to deal with the new Pope emeritus. The new Pope emeritus, but this does not seem to be a problem, in view of the simplicity and discretion that have always inspired the behavior of the Pontiff who has now resigned.
Perhaps this is one of the most visible lessons of his brief pontificate: the image of a man who had to assume with simplicity, with full trust in the financial aid of God, the hard burden of his Petrine service in circumstances that were not easy for the Church at the beginning of the third millennium.. He had neither foreseen nor desired it, but he fulfilled the task until he could no longer carry it out and knew how to retire in time.
Precisely, it is worth reflecting on the timeliness of the moment of Benedict XVI's Withdrawal . I am referring to the fact that with this decision the Pope humbly acknowledged his physical limitations and anticipated a possible status of incapacity that would have made it very difficult, if not impossible, for him to exercise his ministry.
In this sense, Joseph Ratzinger's courageous decision may stimulate the publication of a canon law on the status of the Roman See when the Pope becomes totally incapacitated by illness or old age, legislation foreseen by the law of the Church but not promulgated until now.