Vatican Square
If you have not heard already, Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he will retire from the papacy, making him the first Pope to step down from his office in over 600 years. He announced that he did not have the physical strength to carry out his papal duties after his physicians advised him to cut back on travel and physical activity.
So what does the Pope’s retirement mean to the future of the Catholic Church and the role of the Papacy?
Quite a bit, actually.
The first thing that concerns people about his announcement is the real reason why he is retiring. His reasoning for stepping down sounds vague and suspicious to many. Some speculate that there is some sort of scandal involved or he was forced to step down (as I am sure many readers of the Da Vinci Code would assume). But the fact is that we may actually never know specifically what caused the Pope to step down. Sure, stepping down “because of his health” is exactly what a person who is being forced to step down would say, but it’s also exactly what a person who has health restrictions would say as well.
As for the future of the Catholic Church, this move has major implications. Pope Benedict was a very conservative guy when it came to social policies. He opposed birth control and same-sex marriage and wanted to overturn many of the policies made in Vatican II. But in a socially progressive world where many Catholics are in favor of social reform, the next Pope could potentially overturn many of these social policies made by Benedict. This would perhaps change the image of the traditional Catholic forever.
Or how about the next Pope not being European? The fastest growing populations of Catholics in the world are not Anglo-Saxon. Central and South America along with Africa has a large growing population of Catholics. So could we potentially have a non-white Pope? It is not too wild to be a possibility.
After the Pope steps down, I think that the role of the Pope becomes more crucial. Between priest sex-scandals and social reform throughout the world, the identity of what it means to be Catholic is certainly at stake. Catholics need a guide and a figurehead to look to.
What it comes down to is that this is a part of world history and a part of the future of organized religion. What it means to be Catholic as well as the future of the Catholic Church and their policies are now brought to the forefront. At this point, I recommend you pay attention to this story regardless of your beliefs. There is a lot riding on world religion with the election of the next Pope.
