USA: Pope Benedict's decision to resign makes newspaper headlines in North America

Record ID: 861964

  • Title: USA: Pope Benedict's decision to resign makes newspaper headlines in North America
  • Date: 12th February 2013
  • Summary: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 12, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF NEWSEUM WITH THE FRONT PAGE OF NEWSPAPERS AROUND THE WORLD ON DISPLAY MEN READING NEWSPAPERS
  • Embargoed: 27th February 2013 12:00
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  • Location: Usa
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  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Business,Communications,Religion,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA8J3QJMQD8QWLQHG32SWK0U1NF
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  • Story Text: Pope Benedict's surprise decision to resign made headlines throughout North America on Tuesday (February 12).
    Pope Benedict will step aside completely from any role in running the Church after he resigns at the end of this month and will play no part in the election of his successor, the Vatican spokesman said on Tuesday.
    His announcement was so stunning that many Catholics will have instinctively asked if a pope is allowed to step down. For many of them, Pope John Paul's long and very public agony before he died in 2005 is the iconic image of the end of a papacy.
    But the Code of Canon Law, the legal corpus governing the Church, clearly provides for a papal resignation in its Canon 332. John Paul mentioned it in a detailed 1996 document that laid down the procedure for electing a new pope.
    Benedict is the first pope to resign since Celestine V in 1294.
    The Vatican has a detailed plan for dealing with a papal interregnum. In the absence of a pope, the College of Cardinals, made up of the senior-most prelates, runs the daily government of the Church and organizes the closed-door conclave to elect the next pope, but cannot make major policy decisions.
    The Vatican said the new pope should be in office before Easter, which falls on March 31 this year, but has not given any further details.
    Under the rules from 1996, a conclave must start between 15 and 20 days after the death of a pope. However, that includes nine days for mourning and a funeral. If the Vatican subtracts the mourning and funeral period, the conclave could start between six and 11 days after Benedict resigns on February 28.
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