#whatsyourtitle

© Taken by Ivan Camilo Navarro, crs

The question about Joseph Ratzinger's current title is still disputed and unresolved. One hot topic this week here in Rome is the controversy of what the Church's last pontiff should be called now. This topic was aroused by the publication of an article that my professor of Canon Law has written. My professor's name is Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, sj and he is one of the most respected canonist in Rome and the Vatican, holding important positions inside the Holy See's tribunal and having been the president of the Gregorian U. His last article on the pope, published in a magazine with Vatican approval, is causing much discussion among seminarians and priests here in Rome. A matter that we thought was something of the past is once again under the spotlight.

On February 28th, the Vatican's spokesman announced that Joseph Ratzinger had said that after his official resignation he should be called "pope emeritus" or "Roman pontiff emeritus". Ratzinger took this decision and the Vatican made the announcement of this title after Fr. Ghirlanda had written his article. Neither Ratzinger nor the spokesman, however, knew about the publication's content. This week, various persons in the media have begun to ask, on this matter who is right Ratzinger or the canonist? During our meals, we are asking the same question.

Fr. Ghirlanda argues in his article that once a pope resigns from being a pope he is definitely no longer a pope in any way whatsoever even if he remains a bishop. Not being a pope at all anymore, the canonist writes that Ratzinger should not be called "pope emeritus" because that might suggest that in some way he is still pope even after the election of the new pope. He therefore thinks that the appropriate title for Ratzinger right now should be "bishop emeritus of Rome".

Discussing this topic in the classrooms of theology with classmates, we are beginning to think that this is not a matter of who is right. Nobody still knows what Ratzinger should be called because this situation is so new that more time is necessary as well as more analysis of the pontifical ministry. Our hopes are that after theologians reflect more on Ratzinger's resignation, our understanding of the papacy will be clearer than what it has been. In the mean time, we think the titles "bishop emeritus" and "former pope" are safe ones. 

(On this particular post, nontheless, I just felt more comfortable calling the last pope Ratzinger. Tomorrow I'll probably have another choice.)