The Ex-Pope Formerly Known As Benedict?
If you don’t know what to call him, just say “Hello…”
I think there probably should have been a comma in mine: “Bishop of Rome, Emeritus” which I guess is close to/the same as “Bishop Emeritus of Rome.”
Herr Ratzinger?
I’d hazard a guess that “Mein Fuhrer” is right out.
Definitely not. It will remind them of ex-prez’ being called “president” while they were in office. That will miff anyone.
“'Lo, Pope”.
Good thinking, but no, I saw it somewhere else. Commonweal, “Bishop Emeritus” refers to a bishop who has resigned his see, and of course most of them are over 80, but it’s the resignation of the see, not the age, which makes them “emeritus”. Bishop Francis Hong Yong-ho is 106, but as he has never resigned the see of Pyongyang (to which he was appointed in 1944) he still turns up in the official lists simply as “Bishop of Pyongyang”. Brendan Comiskey, by contrast, has been Bishop Emeritus of Ferns since the age of 66.
As Tom Tildrum says, “Pontifix Emeritus” has been suggested.
I thought the same rule change that kept Cardinal’s over the age of 80 from voting also forced bishops to give up their sees at the same age, though some googling says the age is actually 75 (Hong Young-Ho is obviously a special case). But your right its the retiring and not the age that formally makes a bishop a bishop emeritus.
Bishops are required to offer their resignations when they turn 75, but these are sometimes not accepted, or are deferred for significant periods. And they can, and occasionally do, retire before that age, usually due to a health problem.
Hong Yong-Ho is probably dead. He “disappeared” along with most of the clergy of his diocese in the late 1940s or early 1950s. It’s theoretically possible that he is still alive in some North Korean re-education camp, but wildly unlikely. The Vatican still lists him as Bishop of Pyongyang in order to Make A Point; they’ve never found out what happened to him.
Your Former Popeliness?
Which bothered Queen Victoria’s mother no end, by the way. (Victoria’s mother was also named Victoria.)
By the way, re the “Ex-Benedict” idea: I’m sure there’s a pun on Hollandaise/Holy Days in there somewhere.
If he’s not being made a cardinal (again) then as a bishop emeritus the appropriate form of address would be “Your Excellency” when speaking to him, and “His Excellency” when speaking about him.
The & operator should still work regardless of pope status unless the memory he resides in has been freed.
Here’s Emily Post’s rules, which sound pretty accurate (short answer, no, you don’t call them Mr. President, you call them Mr. Lastname (Carter, Clinton etc.))
If the ex-Pope is considered a Bishop, would he be Bishop Benedict XVI? Or does that chosen name only apply to his, ah, Pope-ness and therefore rescind when he resigns?
I think we have a winner here…
But he won’t be the bishop of Rome any more. In fact, he won’t be the bishop of anywhere any more, as far as I know. He apparently gets to keep the title “bishop” even if he doesn’t have any bishopful duties.
Which is useful if he needs to move diagonally, I suppose.
