Pope Benedict XVI resigns

By Sean Previl

While many people around the world were surprised with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, speculation has now turned to how he will be succeeded.

Father William Riegel, pastor of Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Parish, said it was admirable of the Pope to give up his power to look after his health.

“It’s beyond my comprehension, that kind of humility,” said Riegel. “That someone particularly in his high office would come to the realization in his conscience before God that he simply could no longer carry on the duties that he felt were necessary to lead the Church.”

Riegel said each pope makes his own choice of how he’ll leave the Church.

“It does make sense in this day and age that we would expect this from an aged man,” said Riegel. “However, every Pope will have to make that his own. (Pope) John Paul made the opposite decision. He felt strongly that his own capacity and his suffering that was very public was also his identification with the suffering of the people of the Church.”

Other denominations are also paying attention to the change of leadership. Metropolitan Community Church of Windsor’s Martha Daniels said with modern advances in healthcare, future popes could also resign to take care of their health, but it depends on how the Church handles Benedict’s resignation.

“If this (transition) doesn’t create dissension or problems or political factions, if the transition and the change is smooth then I think future popes will see (resignation) as an option for them,” said Daniels, senior pastor of MCC.

Daniels said the Cardinals who will elect the next pope were appointed by Benedict and will likely have similar views as Benedict.

“The probability is they will elect someone very much like him,” said Daniels.

Some Catholics are hopeful the next pope will be Canadian.

“The possibility of a Canadian pope, with the latest data, is 5-2,” said John Halligan, a political science student at Queen’s University. “The two places in the world the Church is thriving (are) in South America and Africa. If Rome truly wants to speak to its populace, the pope should hail from one of those two regions.”

Pope Benedict’s last day in office is Feb. 28.

 

Who will become the next Pope?

With Pope Benedict XVI resigning at the end of February, the identity of the next Pope is being debated by almost 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide.

The College of Cardinals will meet once Benedict steps down to begin the process of electing the next pope.

Even though it will be at least a month until the pope is chosen, people have already been making suggestions for the new pontiff.

One of the frontrunners for election to the papacy is Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec. This would be the first time a Canadian would be elected as the Bishop of Rome.

Several gambling sites have been taking bets on who people believe to be the next pope and Ouellet has odds of 7-2, according to OddsChecker.com.

Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana and Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria also seem to be popular choices for being named Pope.

Websites like Paddy Power estimate at least 54 cardinals have a possibility of becoming pope including cardinals from Ireland, the U.S. and South Africa.

The Pope’s spokesman Federico Lombardi said the current Pope hopes his successor will be elected before the end of March, hopefully by Easter.