Can you help a non-religious person “get” this one?
Try decades and centuries.
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.
Before today, I didn’t even know that the Pope was allowed to retire.
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.
So when he croaks do they do the silver spoon bit any way? Will he get a papal funeral?
I really hope for his sake that the next successor is not taking the name Boniface.
Not entirely. I’m sure his ring will be destroyed by it.
Ephemeris, your source for breaking news in Latin, uses ‘abdicare’.
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. 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.
That guy wins the Internet.
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!
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.
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?”
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).
Will he be escorted from the Vatican by guards to keep him from stealing office supplies?
A Poper scooper?
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
“… I’m just itching for a good brat.”
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?