# Papal Retirement

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-retirement/194418>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 11, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-retirement/194418 "2003-08-11T16:37:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-retirement/194418/1 "2003-08-11T16:37:28Z")

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I know the Pope _can_ retire, if the mood strikes him. But I seem to recall that there is a reason he’s not planning on it any time soon, despite failing health. I can’t remember what that reason could be, but it seemed to make sense when I heard it. Can someone enlighten me? Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-retirement/194418/2 "2003-08-15T22:23:40Z")

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Trying again…

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**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-retirement/194418/3 "2003-08-15T23:01:35Z")

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Well, it hasn’t been doen in hundreds of years, and the last one who did it wasn’t well thought of. (Sorry too lazy to cite)

Brian