A chara, – Since the Pope announced his resignation there has been a litany of calls that his successor should remake the Catholic Church in various ways.
However, contrary to what some may think, the pope does not govern according to his own personal whim. His charge is to guide the barque of St Peter in accordance with the doctrines of the church as passed down through the centuries. This makes radical changes unlikely, to say the least. When the conclave has done its work there will be a new pope, not a new church. – Is mise,
A chara, – Now that Pope Benedict XVI has broken with 600 years of tradition within the Catholic Church, might that pave the way for the setting aside of other time-honoured traditions in Catholicism? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The organisation We are Church Ireland welcomes the courageous decision of Pope Benedict to resign and we pray that he will be blessed in his retirement.
The present critical situation of the Catholic Church requires a new pope who is open to the world and who advocates dialogue in the reconciliation of governance and doctrinal differences within the church.
During the pontificate of Pope Benedict too many good Catholics became alienated from the Catholic Church due to Vatican inaction over the scandalous cover-ups throughout the Catholic ecclesiastical world of clerical sex abuse while those within the church who spoke out in conscience in favour of reform in both governance and doctrinal issues were harshly and unjustly treated.
We pray for a new Bishop of Rome who will banish the climate of fear that exists within the church, reform the Roman Curia, and encourage free dialogue within the people of God. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – “Ecce homo,” “Behold the man!” These were the words spoken by Pontius Pilate when he presented a scourged Jesus Christ to a hostile mob shortly before his crucifixion. The same words aptly apply today to Pope Benedict XVI, as he is being held up to unprecedented ridicule and scorn by a hateful press and a world so out of touch with its spiritual nature and moral being.
One can almost hear Jesus saying to the peaceful and benevolent pope: “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first” (John 15:18).
The world wants to see the death of the church because it knows the church is the mother of all saints. It knows that the Catholic Church is the last bastion of hope against a materialistic world that craves immorality at every step including homosexuality, same-sex marriage, easy divorce, abortion, radical feminism, contraception, embryonic stem-cell research and cloning. Contrary to his critics, Benedict will be remembered not for the scandals of a few priests but for his intense suffering in protecting the faith from wolves in sheep’s clothing. He will be known as one of the greatest of Catholic martyrs. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I presume that Pope Benedict will now move to Avignon. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Now that Pope Benedict has resigned, can we please have our old responses back at Mass? – Yours, etc,