20 February 2013
the pope
“Tu es Petrus” (Thou art Peter)
by
Amanda Zurface
Just like any
other Monday morning, I was slow to rise out of bed, but had at the front of my
mind class that would start precisely at nine o’clock. My cell phone buzzed. It
was a text from my mother. I was in disbelief when I read her words: “Just
heard that the Pope is resigning!” Was it true? So many questions started
running through my mind: Was Pope Benedict okay? How many centuries had it been
since a Pope resigned? Were we really going to experience this in our lifetime?
I immediately jumped out of bed and booted up my computer to see what this text
was all about. My heart sunk and my eyes became misty. There it was on the
Vatican website: Pope Benedict XVI’s “Declaratio” dated 11 February 2013. I
learned in that moment along with countless others what the European world had
already known for several hours – the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI had in fact
resigned from the ecclesiastical
office – effective February 28, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. (Rome time).
You
may have experiences of encountering a Pope in person, on television, through
the radio, from articles and speeches in the newspaper, from YouTube videos of
Wednesday Audiences or the weekly noontime Sunday Angelus. For me the first
time that I first encountered a Successor of Peter in person was in 2004. I was
seventeen years old, on a pilgrimage in Italy with members of my parish
community and parish priest. In Rome, I laid eyes on the breathtaking Saint
Peter’s Basilica and then on Pope John Paul II. Only a few months later I was
at lunch in the cafeteria of my high school watching the television screen as
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was proclaimed the 265th pope from the beautiful facade of Saint Peter’s at the central balcony.
Within the same year I encountered our new
Pontiff when I was knee-high in the Rhine river shouting out “Viva il Papa!”
which in Italian is “Long live the
Pope!” as Pope Benedict XVI passed by on a cruise ship during the XX World
Youth Day festivities in Cologne, Germany. Again I encountered Pope Benedict
XVI in Rome at Papal events during my undergraduate studies of theology in
2007. Then during the Pope’s visit to Nationals Park in Washington D.C. for the
Apostolic Visitation to the United States in 2008. I had many others
experiences of Pope Benedict XVI in Rome from 2009 to 2012, during my
postgraduate studies.
We
have personal experiences of the Pope, yet our first encounter with the Petrine
ministry is through baptism. In
baptism we confess the Catholic faith and accept the ecclesiastical governance
of the Pope and the bishops united with him. This connection is real and
sacramental. It becomes personal when a special bond is ignited between each
individual and the Papacy; a time where one’s devotion to the papacy and the
person of the pope is truly manifested. We become graciously united, thankfully
stuck not just to the man, but to something even greater, to someone even greater; to the shepherd of
the universal Church – the Vicar of Christ. The papacy has been given to us,
along with the Bishops, to “continue in the ministry and role of Peter and the
Apostles which was given to them by the Lord himself (cf. The Canon Law: Letter & Spirit, p. 189).” The Pope, “by his
acceptance of legitimate election together with episcopal consecration” (cf. c.
332, §1 CIC) who, in the midst of a
complex and godless culture, holds true and teaches the world all we profess
and believe as Catholics. He proclaims the Good News and reveals Christ to the
world, thus showing that there is so much More
and that we do not need to settle for mediocrity. By his very own life the
Pope proclaims to young and old a like that fidelity to our baptismal promises
is how we ought to live and is in
fact the only way we can live.
As
we anticipate the election of our next Pope, I would like to highlight a few
things for us to be aware of in these beautiful and unique days. Canon 331 of
the 1983 Code of Canon Law states:
“The
bishop of the Roman Church, in whom continues the office given by the Lord
uniquely to Peter, the first of the Apostles, and to be transmitted to his
successors, is the head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ, and the
pastor of the universal Church on earth. By virtue of his office he possesses
supreme, full, immediate,
and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise
freely.”
This canon emphasizes Jesus appointing
the office uniquely to Peter and this office continuing on today in the bishop
of Rome, who we know as the Pope (cf. New
Commentary on the CIC, p. 431). While the canon provides the definition of
the powers of the Pope, we are also given the characteristics of the Pope
through his given titles.
Second,
regarding papal election and resignation, canon 332 states:
§ 1. The Roman Pontiff obtains full and supreme
power in the Church by his acceptance of legitimate election together with
episcopal consecration. Therefore, a person elected to the supreme pontificate
who is marked with episcopal character obtains this power from the moment of
acceptance. If the person elected lacks episcopal character, however, he is to
be ordained a bishop immediately.
§ 2. If it happens that the Roman Pontiff
resigns his office, it is required for validity that the resignation is made
freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyone.
While paragraph one explains how the
Roman Pontiff becomes such and addresses the full power immediately obtained
upon accepting election, we bring our attention to paragraph two. We see that
the law of the Church has foreseen another way than by death for the vacancy of
the office of Peter. The possibility of a Pope resigning from office is
dictated, and thus provides a norm for the resignation of a Pope. For the validity of resignation, we see
it must be ‘freely made and properly manifested.’ A resignation by force would
be invalid. An acceptance of the
Pope’s resignation is not a requirement. The College of Cardinals solely verify
and declare the resignation. In law no one can actually accept such a
resignation because the Pope has no superior in law.
Finally, the
vacancy of the Holy See and the role of the College of Cardinals is addressed
in canon 335. The canon states:
When the Roman See is vacant or entirely
impeded, nothing is to be altered in the governance of the universal Church;
the special laws issued for these circumstances, however, are to be observed.
During the
period of time between the resignation or death of a pope, the Holy See is
considered to be vacant. During the time of vacancy the College of Cardinals
assumes the governance of the universal Church, attending mainly to the
immediate care of the Holy See with their key responsibility during a vacancy
to prepare and complete the papal election. During this time, with a priority
to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, the college of cardinals seek a prompt
and systematic conclusion to the papal election, while acknowledging the very
weighty duty of electing the person called to assume the Petrine succession in
the Roman See (cf. New Commentary on the
CIC, p. 467). The election will take place by
way of the Conclave in the Sistine Chapel, where the college with the maximum
number of one hundred and twenty electors, under the age of eighty years old,
will cast a majority vote to determine the next Pope (cf. Universi Dominici
Gregis).
It is an emotional good-bye to a Pope who
has given the Church much in eight years. His life-giving and ever contagious
love, faith, piety, gentleness, reason, courage, discernment, and an exhaustive
list of theological and philosophical writings all reflect and reveal his
ability to always decrease in his person, as he allowed Christ to increase
through him by way of the Petrine office. A professor at heart, he proclaimed
to an estimated 100,000 people gathered for the noontime Angelus in Saint
Peter’s Square this past Sunday, February 17th that we must be close
to God, “…denying pride and selfishness in order to live in love” […] “to
rediscover the faith in God as a criterion-the basis of our life and the life
of the Church.”
As
we near these last days of Pope Benedict XVI’s Pontificate, in the midst of a
sense of loss and heartache, we trust and hope that the Holy Spirit is up to
something exciting and incredible. As people of hope, we will press on in this
“Year of Faith,” to pray and sing joyfully (even in this solemn season of Lent)
in thanksgiving for the See of Peter, the gift of Benedict XVI, and his
successor. Now, as we anticipate what is to come, we also must wait and commit
ourselves to being faithful to prayer for holy wisdom and discernment for the
College of Cardinals and for the man the Lord has been silently preparing to be
the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.
I do not think there is a more appropriate way
to conclude than to leave you with the words of the “Pontifical Hymn:” “Rome immortal, city of martyrs and saints,
immortal Rome,
accept our praises.
Glory in the heavens to God our Lord
and peace to
the men who love Christ!
To you we come, angelic Pastor,
in you we see
the gentle redeemer.
You are the holy heir of our Faith,
you are the
comfort and the refuge of those
who believe and fight,
force and
terror will not prevail,
but truth and love will reign!”
Beautiful! I'm with you in prayer~
ReplyDeleteMiss you, Bonnie! Prayers!
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