Pope Benedict XVI Resigns

Pope Benedict XVI  is to resign at the end of the month.

The news of the Pope’s decision has come out of the blew and was not expected at all. BBC News reports that the Vatican has confirmed the news but has not yet announced the reason behind the surprise resignation.

Pope Benedict XVI was elected Pope in 2005 following the death of John Paul II. The pontiff was formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before being made Bishop of Rome and head of the Roman Catholic Church.

At the age of 78 he was one of the oldest popes in history. Benedict is the first Pope in the modern-era to resign rather than die in office.

A statement released by the Pope puts his reason for resigning down to his age. “After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry… In today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to me.”

In the past year Pope Benedict XVI has increased his and the Vatican’s attack on homosexuality and gay marriage leading to much criticism and protests. The Pope has described homosexuality as a “threat” to the future of humanity.

The Catholic Church has, over the past decade or more, been engulfed by the scandal of child sex abuse by its priests. The Church’s cover-up of those incidents and failure to tackle the wide-spread problem has also resulted in it being strongly criticised and attacked.