THE POPE'S EXIT STRATEGY: VOLUNTARY OR COERCED?

THE POPE'S EXIT STRATEGY: VOLUNTARY OR COERCED?

courtesy; abc news

If people are scratching their heads at the news that the pope is resigning, they probably have good reason to do so.  

It is highly unusual and it usually signals that not all is well within the Vatican walls.

There are many who wander around asking pointed questions as to the 'true' nature of the affair.  People who love the church have compassionately forgiven the frail pontiff for his lack of diligence in discharging his duties until death do him part from his beloved church. Others seem to be drooling at the prospect of the opening of the 'box' with all its scandals and machinations revealed.

But most of the questions, and the wagging tongues, seem to betray a gossipy interest, as if all of the questioners know about the 'dirty' deeds of the church but do not themselves seem to have any clues as to what they might be.

The obvious always seems to be the last place some people look into. 

As we review, and many others will too, the pontiff's career, we find that the preludes to his fall have been played many times.  

There is seemingly less popularity in a pope, lacking the glowing charisma of his predecessor, who has spent most of his time in the Vatican trying to put the Church back on its track by stemming any effort at modernization.  The numbers tell the truth.  The attendance of the churchgoers has waned and the crowds have thinned.

This alone could have doomed him.  But let's not forget another stone which hung from the old pontiff's neck.  A little something to do about some very private papers that were smuggled out of his personal office and found their way to a writer who has written an explosive book about the woeful mismanagement and corruption of the Vatican.  

Then of course there is that small matter of 30 million dollars impounded from the Church's banks due to alleged ties to money laundering in 2010.  

A further blow to the Pope's credibility was dealt the church when the pontiff visited Mexico but neglected to address a scandalous case of a famous church leader, father Maciel, who was found to have committed atrocious crimes of rape, and have fathered many children.  

One has to wonder then, why people ask the questions of what has truly led to his fateful decision.

What people should be asking instead, is why the pontiff did it.  

It seems the Pope might still have some fight in him.  His was a rebellion, pure and simple.  He is probably appalled at the chaos and mismanagement of the place, and since it is probably too great or too hard to correct, he has sent a message to the curia in his defiant abandonment of his seat. 

However, many people point to a poor choice of managers by the pontiff, with whom he also is said not to confide.  This centralization, if anything, has exacerbated the chaos at the Vatican even more.

The fallout, already well on its course from times before the fateful announcement, will be great.  Can the church remedy the damage, or are we seeing the beginning of a long period of turmoil at a critical time when people seem to believe in God and church in lesser and lesser numbers?  

Clearly, the Vatican would do well to find a stellar candidate for its next pontiff.  But can this man, yet unnamed, cure all the ills that are sickening the church?  We shall see, after all the Institution has through the centuries been through greater turmoil than this.

Source: NYT/2.13.13