So many persons that know me have expressed to me that they are scandalized and disappointed by the Pope's decision. These persons are practicing Catholics. After expressing these reactions, they all tend to compare this new situation in the papacy to divorce in marriage and to leaving the priesthood. It is also typical of so many persons to compare Benedict XVI with JP II saying that JP II did not let go despite his great sufferings. I can understand people's surprise to Benedict's choice but these comments that I just mentioned are profoundly misguided and misguiding. Leaving the papacy is not the same as getting divorced or quiting the priesthood. First of all, the papacy is a ministry not a sacrament like marriage or the ordination. Being a pope is a service that a faithful man provides to the Church. It is a very unique and extremely important ministry but it is a ministry that is possible to abandon unlike the consecrations of the priesthood and of marriage. Secondly, we cannot compare one pope to another because not only each person is so different but also each situation in which a man is pope is just unrepeatable.
Right now spreading this message is crucial to help our brothers and sisters in faith to understand the real situation of the Pope's departure and to avoid alarming reactions that are just unnecessary. If you know someone who has similar views to the ones I mentioned above explain to them that the Church in the Canon Law permits such an option as the one that Benedict went for. Tell them the our Pope is not betraying our Church or the faithful in any way. Right now prayers are necessary not doubts or worries.
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