# So the Pope Is Resigning **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2013, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960 "2013-02-11T11:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/81 "2013-02-11T17:55:43Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > The Pope is setting the bar high for Lent this year > > (credit: Facebook) Can you help a non-religious person “get” this one? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/82 "2013-02-11T17:55:47Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > There will be rumors of scandal, if not more, for weeks and months (and perhaps longer)… Try decades and centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/83 "2013-02-11T17:59:03Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Can you help a non-religious person “get” this one? I’m not religious either, or a Catholic, but I know you’re supposed to give up something for Lent. So here the pope has given up … being the pope. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/84 "2013-02-11T17:59:23Z")
Before today, I didn’t even know that the Pope was allowed to retire. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/85 "2013-02-11T18:03:30Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > The Pope is setting the bar high for Lent this year > (credit: Facebook) > [@snowthx](#): > > Can you help a non-religious person “get” this one? during Lent a person might spend extra time in prayer, give extra offerings or give up something you like. this is a joke on giving up something you like. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/86 "2013-02-11T18:06:48Z")
So when he croaks do they do the silver spoon bit any way? Will he get a papal funeral? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/87 "2013-02-11T18:10:56Z")
I really hope for his sake that the next successor is not taking the name Boniface. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/88 "2013-02-11T18:15:00Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > He means to cheat the silver hammer Not entirely. I’m sure his ring will be destroyed by it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/89 "2013-02-11T18:19:28Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Breaking news on BBC TV: Pope Benedict XVI will resign on February 28. You heard it here first. > > I thought popes abdicated, not resigned? Like kings? But BBC keeps using “resign.” [Ephemeris](http://ephemeris.alcuinus.net/nuntius.php?id=842), your source for breaking news in Latin, uses ‘abdicare’. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > _hanc sume officium TRUDO eam_ > > If Google translator is right, that’s Latin for “Take this job and shove it!” Sūme mūnus ac farce! I am amused that apparently the announcement was made in Latin, [and a reporter who understood Latin got the scoop on the rest](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/02/11/pope_benedict_xvi_resignation_announcement_video_pope_announces_he_is_stepping.html). I myself can barely make out his creaky old Teutonic churchy Latin, though the text from Ephemeris is clear enough. He’s too pooped to Pope. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/90 "2013-02-11T18:49:17Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > The Pope is setting the bar high for Lent this year > > (credit: Facebook) That guy wins the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/91 "2013-02-11T19:10:07Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Parkinsons. Didn’t slow down JP II. Wouldn’t it be interesting to get an American pope? Not that it would happen, but can you imagine? Hell, I can’t wait for _The Onion_’s take on it! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/92 "2013-02-11T19:25:21Z")
MSN (from Windows 8) says he’s retiring “amidst scandal,” so I think even they are assuming it has more to do with the child molestation thing. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/93 "2013-02-11T19:33:14Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > resigning? or did he get chucked into the Vatican death Star reactor by Darth Vader? Ha! On another forum one of the first comments on this story was “want to bet he’s going out in a lightsaber duel with the Cardinals?” ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/94 "2013-02-11T20:06:39Z")
Pope Ratzi has to be losing his marbles. Fast. Frailty of the body wasn’t enough to get JPII to resign, plus the fact that this seems to have surprised everybody means that it was a pretty rushed decision (as rushed as anything can be in the Vatican). ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/95 "2013-02-11T20:35:03Z")
Will he be escorted from the Vatican by guards to keep him from stealing office supplies? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/96 "2013-02-11T20:49:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > … the announcement was made in Latin, [and a reporter who understood Latin got the scoop on the rest](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/02/11/pope_benedict_xvi_resignation_announcement_video_pope_announces_he_is_stepping.html). A Poper scooper? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/97 "2013-02-11T20:59:16Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Frailty of the body wasn’t enough to get JPII to resign, plus the fact that this seems to have surprised everybody means that it was a pretty rushed decision (as rushed as anything can be in the Vatican). For whatever it’s worth, his older brother says he’s known for months that this was coming. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/98 "2013-02-11T21:22:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > For whatever it’s worth, his older brother says he’s known for months that this was coming. “Y’know Georg, the job is OK, but I’m surrounded by _Italians_! I gotta get outta here.” - Benny ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/99 "2013-02-11T22:08:06Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > “Y’know Georg, the job is OK, but I’m surrounded by _Italians_! I gotta get outta here.” - Benny “… I’m just itching for a good _brat_.” ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960/100 "2013-02-11T22:21:19Z")
I find it interesting that he would be resigning so close to Easter. The articles I’ve read say that the new pope won’t be selected until the end of March, which will be after Easter. So there will be nobody to give the official Easter sermon or lead the Vatican Easter ceremonies. So I’m thinking that this has to be something big that can’t wait one more month until after Easter. It could be a scandal or maybe the Pope is just too frail to perform his holiday duties in public? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-pope-is-resigning/649960.md?page=6)