Pope Benedict XVI

Analysis and Comment (4)

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Pope Benedict XVI greeting pilgrims from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica soon after his election in 2005. Georgi Licovski/EPA

Resignation of a Pope: stepping down and stepping forward

By Nigel Zimmermann

As the news of Pope Benedict XVI’s dramatic resignation sinks in, the speculation on his successor has inevitably begun. Will we see the first black Pope? The first South American Pope? Just as it happened…
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Pope Benedict XVI, who recently announced that he will resign from the papacy this month. AAP/Claudio Peri

Pope’s resignation is a recognition of human frailty in an ageing world

By Peter Sherlock, MCD University of Divinity

Pope Benedict XVI announced his historic decision to step aside as Pope yesterday. This is the first time in 600 years a Pope has resigned. And in 1415 when Gregory XII resigned, he did so not to retire…
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Pope Benedict XVI has announced plans to step down on February 28, citing the job’s pressures and his advanced age. Alessandro Di Meo/EPA

Out with God’s rottweiler: the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

By Binoy Kampmark, RMIT University

“There is not, and there never was on this earth, a work of human policy so well deserving examination as the Roman Catholic Church.” So wrote Thomas Babington Macaulay in his review of Leopold von Ranke…

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