At 85, its possible he is suffering for something along the lines of Alzheimer's or dementia and is unable to perform his public duties- not that you need to be suffering from one of these things to have difficulties at 85.
There are a few factors I think. One is the child Molestation scandals and the fact that he had a direct hand in them.
The other one I think is that the Church is seeing declining numbers and they might want to find a more in tune pope that can reach out to the youth of the world.
His health from the sounds of it is not good, and its tough for an 85 year old to shoulder that load, he's no Pope John Paul who was still skiing and playing tennis.
Who ever takes this job has a big laundry list of tasks ahead of him, he has to moderate the older members of the church, he has to create new messaging to the faithfull and he has to open up about the Child scandals.
I would think the smart move would be to appoint a non European pope for the first time to show that the Church recognizes other regions and ideas.
I would like to see father Guido put up for the job.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
The pope resigning was the plot of a lesser know Tom Clancy book, Red Rabbit
Except that one was an interesting and rumored to be true premise that the Pope was going to resign due to the crackdowns in Poland and return home to be with his people which was a frightening thought to the Soviet Politburo.
That book was rooted in theory that gained a popular foothold.
Its interesting to note that John Paul's shooter actually fingered a very senior Cardinal in the church as the man behind the assasination.
But the shooter was batssh$t crazy and it was never looked into.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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There are a few factors I think. One is the child Molestation scandals and the fact that he had a direct hand in them.
The other one I think is that the Church is seeing declining numbers and they might want to find a more in tune pope that can reach out to the youth of the world.
His health from the sounds of it is not good, and its tough for an 85 year old to shoulder that load, he's no Pope John Paul who was still skiing and playing tennis.
Who ever takes this job has a big laundry list of tasks ahead of him, he has to moderate the older members of the church, he has to create new messaging to the faithfull and he has to open up about the Child scandals.
I would think the smart move would be to appoint a non European pope for the first time to show that the Church recognizes other regions and ideas.
I would like to see father Guido put up for the job.
I think this pretty much sums it up. The molestation scandal is a factor because it has hurt his popularity. For this reason, the Vatican is not pressuring him to stay.
But the health issues are real. He was told that he cannot travel anymore, and this hurts promotion a lot. Some of the most hardcore Catholics are in Latin America. Any Pope should be expected to make appearance there.
I think the writing is on the wall too that they need to become more liberal on many issues. The majority Catholic counties in Europe are secular and generally progressive. Sooner or later, the Church has to come in line with this or face continued disinterest. Many Catholics already do not adhere to the religion to the strict letter of the law and consider themselves Catholic only in the cultural sense (ie. they follow and enjoy the traditions and rituals as something that connects them to their family, community and history, but they don't pay attention to the dogma).
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
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