Pope Gregorius XII resigned on July 4, 1415, in an attempt to end the Western Schism within the Catholic Church.
Almost 600 years later, it has happened again.
When Pope Benedict XVI announced on Feb. 10 that he was to step down, the decision shocked the Catholic world.
Benedict said that he had “come to the certainty that [his] strengths, due to an advanced age, [were] no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” according to the official Vatican press release.
“It caught us all by surprise,” said Father Stephen Lyness of the Catholic Student Association at Georgia State. “Normally, this is a job taken for the rest of the pope’s life.”
Though Benedict’s resignation shocked the Georgia State and Atlanta Catholic community, many agreed with his decision.
“Ninety five percent of the people that I have talked to believe that it was a good decision,” said Father Henry Gracz of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Downtown Atlanta.
Most also believed that the pope’s position as the leader of the Catholic Church gave him a stronger connection to God and allowed him to make better decisions.
“Seeing him as a high servant of God, I think his reasons for stepping down must be legitimate,” said Georgia State student Jonathan Luna. “If he was not feeling capable of handling the position then I think God has a successor already picked out and it is the best option.”
Despite the monumental event, a large number of Catholic students felt that Benedict’s resignation would not change much for them or for the church as a whole.
“[The pope] is the leader of the church, but the position doesn’t have the power it used to,” said Georgia State student Rebecca Statham. “His resignation might be right, but it really won’t directly affect me or anyone that I know.”
However, what has become important about his resignation is not the fact itself, but what will come after.
“Lawyers have been discussing precedents in common law and people are asking, ‘where do we go from here?’” Lyness said. “[In the election process] there will be a lot of negotiations and politics behind the scenes, but done in a very nice way.”
The traditional ritual that requires the confirmation of the pope’s death will be skipped. However, the rest of the process will still be adhered to.
In the 2000 year history of the church, only nine popes have resigned.
The first was Saint Clement I, who led the church though the first century. The second was Celestine V, who only six months into his term, decided to resign because he thought he was inadequate for the position.
Celestine’s resignation gave way to the Canon Law, which gave popes the right to resign on their own free will. The third pope to resign was Gregorius XII.
Benedict, born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, was ordained as a priest in 1951 and established himself as a highly regarded university theologian by the late 1950s.
After a long academic career, he became Archbishop of Munich and Freising and cardinal by Pope Paul VI. Benedict was also named Perfect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni.
At 70, Benedict asked Pope John Paul II for permission to leave the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith to become an archivist in the Vatican Secret Archives and a librarian in the Vatican Library, but his request was rejected.
On April 19, 2005, Benedict was elected pope.
While his resignation might not have much of an effect on the local Catholic community, it can be seen that each papal resignation brings about some change to the laws or traditions of election.
What Benedict’s effect is, is too soon to tell, though many have speculated that he will have no role in electing the new pope.
