Does the Pope have to die to be replaced? Is the job of Pope like that of Mafia hitman, one from which no-one ever “retires”?
No, it’s more like being King or Queen of the U.K. – it’s just “not done” to quit, even for reasons of age. (And, just like the parallel, workarounds are devised to deal with infirmity and such. Prince Charles has been taking on some of Queen Elizabeth’s official duties, not including the stuff requiring formal assent by the monarch. And no doubt Cardinals and other Curia officials are handling a lot of what a “normal” (60-70 years old and in good health) Pope would be doing.
An article in my paper today was discussing “What if…” and saying that the Vatican can’t dodge the issue much longer. With the technology we have today, the Pontiff’s comatose body could be kept alive, but certain pontifical functions could not be carried out by his secretary or attending cardinals. The article also mentioned that His Grace may have already expressed his views on his own health a few years ago with a report on medical ethics. He emphatically stated that being in a persistant vegitative state does not make one less than human. I think doctors and ethicists would agree, but permanently losing the higher brain functions that make you the Pope gets in the way of executing papal duties. I don’t think anyone would see the Pope as less than human if he were in PVS, but the fact is that the Church can’t sit still waiting for the body to catch up to where the mind has already gone.
Vlad/Igor
Any chance of a link to an online edition of that article? I’m curious as to what functions absolutely have to be carried out personally by the Pope and can’t be delegated.
Just one added comment: Anyone but me who thinks that the thread title sounds like the name of a best-selling novel based on a collaboration between Tom Clancy, Morris West, and Mary Renault? 
Just a note, retirement from the papacy isn’t completely unknown although it is very rare (and hasn’t been done at all recently). After a 5 month reign, Celestine V, a hermit who had never been comfortable with the political intriguing surrounding the papacy of the times, resigned in 1294. His successor, Boniface VIII, then had the ex-pope imprisoned.
Probably on orders from God.
Why not? The Church is an extremely slow-to-action organization, and it seems to me that sitting around for several years without an active pontiff may actually do less harm.
More like a movie starring Robbie Coltrane with an extra “T” added to avoid offending American sensibilities. 
This isn’t from that article, but a rather barebones CNN article:
Resignation is legal. The Code of Canon Law, Can. 332 §2, provides:
That last phrase distinguishes the resignation from other resignations of ecclesiastical office, which must be accepted by the authority providing for the office.
The Holy See - the Pope’s “office” - is considered “impeded” if the Pope is completely prevented from exercising his pastoral office by reason of imprisonment, banishment, exile or incapacity. Canon 335 provides that when the Holy See is vacant, or completely impeded, no innovation is to be made in the governance of the universal Church - that is, caretakers may proceed with routine matters, in their own authority, but no major acts may be undertaken.
Does this mean that the Pope would be able to communicate, but not to excommunicate? 
But when do they get out the silver hammer ?
I read that at first thinking of communicate in the sense of receive Holy Communion. I was somewhat surprised that that would affect his authority to delagate. It wasn’t until after I thought to myself, “Gosh, I guess if he can’t even communicate, he probably wouldn’t be able to talk either!” that I realized what was meant.
Of the four powers he posesses but could not delegate, I believe the appointment of bishops is the only one necessary for the ordinary bussiness of the church to continue. I’m sure the church could get by on its current bishops for quite a while, but eventually they would need new additions. (I believe the Pope is also the only person who can elevate cardinals. One can imagine rather morbid and implausible, but not entirely impossible, senarios in which an incapacitated Pope outlives the entire College, and there is no one to elect a new Pope when he dies!)
I find it extremely likely, however, that Canon Law provides for the appointment of bishops and cardinals in the case ofthe Holy See being impeded or vacant. Hopefully Bricker can provide more details about this.
(Just out of curiosity, what is the longest period for which the Holy See has remained vacant? [I’m guessing there haven’t been any long impedences. Have there?])
Looks like after Clement IV died in 1268, there was not a new pope until 1271. There were only 15 cardinals back then, but they couldn’t get the necessary 2/3 of them to agree on anyone. The lay people of the town even started to cut back on their food and water. Eventually, the 15 cardinals picked six of them and picked Gregory X.
Here is the story in more detail:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06798a.htm
The dissolute Pope Benedict IX also left the papacy, selling it to his godfather so he could marry his cousin and make a brood of little perverts.
Hmm…there are a lot of Pope’s threads, tonight…Maybe I should listen to the news…
And, according to thoughts expressed in lno’s CNN link, this may be the last time this situation is relevant.
This is an interesting and informative site.
Re: Bob T’s post, I saw this link, and thought it was a rather drastic next step, after the food and water reduction.
bolding mine
Can’t the pope delgate authority? Is their anything in RCC law that says a pope can’t just say to a cardinal “you are now the acting pope”? If the pope has such authority, he doesn’t actually formally have to retire. He could just pass off the job responsibilities to another, and relax.
I don’t think the pope could get away with that. There’s too much politics tied up with papal succession. The Papacy is also supposed to be an apostolic succession of church leaders starting with St. Peter, and just handing off papal duties to some Cardinal Giuseppe would not follow that tradition.
Interestingly, the leader of the Church of England, the Archbisop of Canterbury, has an observed retirement age of 70, and is considered to also be of the apostolic succession from St. Peter.
Vlad/Igor