I would not be in the least surprised were Pope Francis to abdicate when he turns 80. As a matter of fact, I suspect he will.
On that, I saw at Rorate something from La Nación.
The Pope renewed his civil, Argentinian identity documents… even though he is a head of state. He obviously has a Vatican City State Passport. Apparently the Pope wants to travel on his Argentinian passport and/or identity card. Thus, he jumped through the loops to get them. Well, actually, he told someone else to jump through the loops to get them.
Benedict XVI continued to be a German citizen after his election. I suspect he still has dual citizenship, German/Vatican. Cardinals who live in Rome are also given Vatican citizenship.
I suspect that when the Pope shows up, customs agents don’t check his passport. So, what difference does it make? What is this all about? I have no idea. I ask myself: were I elected Pope, would I renew my US Passport? Yes, I think I would. Would I resign the papacy? No, I don’t think I would. But, in the realm of hypotheticals, this just about tops the list. Heck, I won’t even make monsignor, the way things are going!
Cheer up, Holy Father! Don't look like a 'sour puss!"
Loading ...
Bizarre and disappointing.
Curious. Is there anything in particular that leads you to believe Francis will resign at 80?
A correction to my previous comment. Strike “will” and replace it with “might”.
A very interesting thought, Father! Especially since the Holy Father is already 77, which wouldn’t make that long of a Papacy. All of my comment is hypothetical speculation, so don’t read too much into it. :) If the Holy Father were to abdicate at 80, that would make Cardinal Burke about 68… just saying.
It would not be a surprise. Like Papa Ratzinger this pope didn’t want the job. The former, however, had some pet projects he wanted implemented–Summorum Pontificum, Anglicanorum Coetibus, and a reform of the reform (the latter didn’t happen). He also had already lived in Rome for almost 25 years and was comfortable there.
And I think this pope realizes that comments from “friends” like Cdls Hummes and Maradiaga have done little except paint him into a corner for the coming Synod.
Did Pope Francis get a new pectoral cross? The chain in his passport picture looks gold, not silver as he had been wearing.
I somehow doubt he will step down on a pre-determined birthday. I think it is very possible that he will step down when a typical month as the Holy Father is more than he can do. Who can know when that will be? He is in very good health right now; may the Lord grant that he have that for a long time.
A sense of duty can mean doing all you can do and delegating the rest–every Pope has to delegate some amount of his work–or it can mean realizing that you don’t even have the energy to oversee work you’ve delegated and stepping down in favor of a man who can see that all that must be done is being properly done. That has to be something that you decide when the time comes. I do not doubt that our Holy Father has a sense of duty, so I won’t worry about this.
As for the passport, I’d renew mine, were I in anything remotely like his shoes. Your homeland always has a bit of your heart. There is nothing wrong with that. Pope Benedict kept his, but he was obviously never leaving the Vatican, and he has undoubtedly always known that.
From your lips to God’s ears. The sooner the better.