Vatican sends message: Pope's retirement for real
BY VICTOR L. SIMPSON & NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
2/13/13 at 4:16 AM
The Vatican went out of its way Tuesday to declare that for Pope Benedict XVI, retirement means just that: Retirement.
With speculation swirling around his future role, the Vatican's chief spokesman explicitly stated that Benedict will not influence the election of his successor. And he deepened the sense of finality by saying that Benedict's papal ring and other powerful emblems of authority will be destroyed after his Feb. 28 abdication - just as they are after a papal death.
So, while the first papal resignation in 600 years has left behind a vast uncharted territory to navigate, the church has tried to send a clear message that Benedict will not be pulling strings from behind the scenes. His brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, says the pope will be withdrawing even further from religious life - probably even giving up his beloved theological writing.
"The pope will surely say absolutely nothing about the process of the election," Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters at a briefing. "He will not interfere in any way."
Although no date for a conclave to choose the next pope has been announced, it must begin within 20 days of his Feb. 28 retirement. That means a new pope will likely be elected by the College of Cardinals by Easter - March 31 this year.
Lombardi said he was certain that "objects strictly connected" with the papal ministry will be "terminated." Among these are the papal ring used as a seal for documents, which is smashed upon the death of a pope.
The Vatican has already picked out the pope's future home: A four-story building attached to a monastery on the northern edge of the Vatican gardens where cloistered nuns used to live. It has been under renovation for several months, although only a handful of Vatican officials knew that it would one day be Benedict's retirement home.
From a new name to this new home to the awkward reality of having a reigning pope and a retired one, Benedict has plenty of decisions to make as he becomes the first pontiff in six centuries to retire.
The 85-year-old Benedict said Monday he was stepping down because he simply no longer had the strength in mind or body to carry on. On Tuesday, Lombardi revealed for the first time that Benedict has had a pacemaker for years and just had its battery replaced a few months ago.
Original Print Headline: Benedict keeps low profile
Associated Images:
Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday that he would be the first pope to resign since 1415. PIER PAOLO CITO/Associated Press file
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