Fr. Kramer Answers An Objection To Benedict XVI Having "Resigned"

Fr. Kramer Answers An Objection To Benedict XVI Having "Resigned"

To the objection: 《 The claim of a distinction between the Papacy and the active exercise thereof, if there is one, does not go so far as to leave Benedict in the Chair of Peter when, by having declared himself ministerio Episcopi Romae, Successoris Sancti Petri, mihi per manus Cardinalium die 19 aprilis MMV commisso renuntiare, he clearly got up from it.》

I REPLY:

"The commentator fails to take note of Benedict's precise qualification, i.e., his explicitly qualified partial renunciation, giving a qualified sense to the words, "ministerio Episcopi Romae, Successoris Sancti Petri, mihi per manus Cardinalium die 19 aprilis MMV commisso renuntiare"; as well as the fatal equivocation of stating his intention to not entirely relinquish the munus, which renders the act null & void, while simultaneously stating that a partial renunciation will vacate the Chair.
Thus, the comentator's argument that isolates the words "ministerio Episcopi Romae, Successoris Sancti Petri, mihi per manus Cardinalium die 19 aprilis MMV commisso renuntiare" from their explicitly qualified context is based on a fatally flawed interpretation of those words.

Benedict stared that the munus of office is not only the active ministry, but is also a passive ministry: Bene conscius sum hoc munus secundum suam essentiam spiritualem non solum agendo et loquendo exsequi debere, sed non minus patiendo et orando. He stated explicitly his intention to retain the passive exercise of the official petrine munus: "La mia decisione di rinunciare all’esercizio attivo del ministero, non revoca questo." (My decision to renounce the active ecercise of the ministry does not revoke this.) By "this" he specified the passive exercise of the papal munus: "Non porto più la potestà dell’officio per il governo della Chiesa, ma nel servizio della preghiera resto, per così dire, nel recinto di san Pietro. San Benedetto, il cui nome porto da Papa, mi sarà di grande esempio in questo. Egli ci ha mostrato la via per una vita, che, attiva o passiva, appartiene totalmente all’opera di Dio." ("I no longer bear the power of office for the governance of the Church, but in the service of prayer I remain, so to speak, in the enclosure of Saint Peter. Saint Benedict, whose name I bear as Pope, will be a great example for me in this. He showed us the way for a life which, whether active or passive, is completely given over to the work of God.") This "service of prayer" which he expressly retains is stated by Benedict to pertain essentially to the petrine munus in his act of renunciation: "Bene conscius sum hoc munus secundum suam essentiam spiritualem non solum agendo et loquendo exsequi debere, sed non minus patiendo et orando."

Hence, the intention expressed by Pope Benedict is to remain in the Petrine office and retain the passive aspect of its official service (munus), i.e. "the service of prayer"; and to hand over the active aspect of the munus, i.e. exercise of governance, to a successor, who will effectively fulfill the function of a coadjutor with power of jurisdiction. Benedict's intention to remain in the passive exercise of the petrine office is manifested and underscored by his retaining his papal name and coat of arms; and his continuing to wear the papal attire, which is forbidden to anyone who does not occupy the petrine office.

 Pope Benedict XVI is the Pope...