Wednesday, June 22, 2016

John Paul II in 2002: “A pope emeritus is impossible”

Even Modernist John Paul II got it right...

Sandro Magister

The Enigma of an “emeritus pope” attached to the reigning pope, even in the form of “a ministry in common” between a “contemplative” pope and an “active”, continues to weigh unresolved on the current season of the papacy:
> Not a pope but two, one “active” and a “contemplative”
The figure of “emeritus pope” was deliberately introduced by Benedict XVI after his resignation, but has no precedent in history.

It is known that had already been examined by some of his predecessors, however, that more and rejected it as impractical. Pius XII, for example, thinking of a possible kidnapping by the Nazis who occupied Rome, had prepared a letter of total renunciation of the papacy, and had confided to Monsignor Domenico Tardini: “If you kidnap me, take away Cardinal Pacelli, not dad”.
The issue came to appear in the last phase, more and more marked by the disease, the Pontificate of John Paul II.
The writer and Catholic publisher Conrad Black, Canadian, confirms that Pope Karol Wojtyla had the opportunity to talk about the end of July 2002, in Toronto for the World Youth Day (see photo), during a lunch with the benefactors who had financed the day, in the house of the archbishop emeritus of the city, Cardinal Gerald Emmett Carter, of which Black was a close friend.
On that occasion, John Paul II said, quite contrary to the hypothesis. And his exact words were: “A pope emeritus is impossible.”
Black called at the time this episode in a tribute to the memory of the holy Pope, of which he was co-published in the British weekly “Catholic Herald”.
Joseph Ratzinger was the teacher of doctrine in which John Paul II placed the greatest confidence. And it was then in 2005 his successor.
But apparently the “emeritus pope” the one and the other have taken apart roads.