Will (Should) the Pope Resign?

Vatican watchers, who resemble no one quite so much as the old Kremlinolgists in their ability to spin elaborate theories from virtually no hard evidence, are all attitter over remarks by the Vatican Secretary of State on the Pope's health. The Times of London, for example, ran the story under a headline reading:

Pope should think of resigning, says Vatican cardinal

In fact, however, as the story makes clear, the Cardinal said no such thing:

Asked whether the Pope, 84, should step down as his illness worsens, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Secretary of State (Prime Minister), himself the Pope’s deputy and a potential successor, said that the decision should be “left to the conscience of the Pope”. He added: “We should have faith in him. If there is one man who knows what to do, it is he.”

In other words, in response to a direct question, the Cardinal basically said "it's up to the Pope."

My guess is that some commentators are engaging more in wishful thinking rather than reasoned analysis. I doubt very much that this Pope will step down while he lives. For one thing, it hasn't been done in over 700 years. For another, this Pope's current health struggles are a living witness to the meaning of the Gospel of Life. As John Paul has taught:

"Suffering - as I wrote in the Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris - can be transformed and changed with a grace which is not exterior but interior…yet this interior process does not always develop in the same way…Christ responds neither directly nor abstractly to human questioning about the meaning of suffering. Human beings come to know His saving response in so far as they share in the sufferings of Christ. The response which comes from this sharing is before all else a call. It is a vocation. Christ does not explain in some abstract way the reasons for sufferings, but says first of all: "Follow me", Come, with your suffering share in this work of salvation of the world, which is realized through my suffering, by means of my Cross" (n 26). ...

Suffering is transformed when we experience in ourselves the closeness and solidarity of the living God: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last…I shall see God my savior" (Job 19:25-26). With this assurance comes inner peace, and from this a spiritual joy, quiet and deep, springing from the "gospel of suffering" which understands the grandeur and dignity of human beings who suffer with a generous spirit and offer their pain "as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" (Rom 12:1). This is why those who suffer are no burden to others, but with their suffering contribute to the salvation of all.

I find it difficult to believe that the man who wrote those words will step down from the task to which he has been appointed.

In turn, for us as Catholic lawyers, the Pope's example reminds us that the Gospel of Life is concerned as much with the end of life as with its beginning. Elder law is not my vocational expertise, but it strikes me as an area ripe for being put through what our leader and friend Mark Sargent has taken to calling the "Catholic wringer."