VATICAN CITY
Deutsche Welle
The pope’s announcement that he will resign his post has come to many Catholics as a surprise. But his resignation gives the Church the chance for a new beginning during a time of crisis, says DW’s Bernd Riegert.
It’s a revolution. A pope hasn’t resigned in more than 500 years. Officially, the nearly 86-year-old Benedict XVI said that he was stepping down due to his deteriorating health. But in his Latin-language announcement, he said that the Church was difficult to lead during an era of rapid change, in a world “shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith.”
The pope was no man of the people like his Polish predecessor, but instead was a brilliant theologian and intellectual, who always had difficulties with his office. During his 2011 trip to his German homeland, he gave the impression that he was detached. At the time, many people criticized the pope for being out of touch with the concerns of normal Catholics.
His resignation now officially opens the possibility for a Catholic leader who is more open to reform and can find answers to the Church’s crisis in Europe and North America. In Germany, the Church is losing more and more members, and there aren’t enough priests being trained to lead the next generation.
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