Pope Benedict XVI 'is to resign'

[Sheilbh]

Also I love that this story broke so soon because a journalist understood the Pope's Latin resignation speech. Which is impressive.

Never doubt the use of a classical education

[MadImmortalMan]

I got the feeling Benny never really wanted the job in the first place.

[Syt]

So anyway, will he go back to being Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger?  Will he be Pontifex Emeritus?

Last papal resignation was 600 years ago, so not a lot of precedent.

Apparently Gregory XII did continue to be called by his papal name.  He will continue to be a bishop, and could theoretically be appointed a cardinal by his successor.

Radio said this morning he'll step back to Cardinal again. He won't be in the conclave (not sure if that goes because he's ex-Pope or because he's over 80). The plan seems to be that he retires to a former nunnery and spends the remainder of his days in study, prayer and meditation (which was seems t have been his original plan 10 years ago, too).

He always struck me as a reluctant pope - he was a scholar and theologian first, and wanted to dedicate himself to that. Still, I always had the impression that if he had a duty he'd see it through properly (he's German, after all ), so stepping down when he thinks he's no longer adequate in the role seems a logical step.

[Syt]

I got the feeling Benny never really wanted the job in the first place.

Yeah, as said earlier, he had plans for retirement and going back to study/writing. This whole Pope thing put a bit of a crimp on that. I'm not an expert, but a number of commentators call him one of the best scholars/theologians the church had.

[Sheilbh]

Radio said this morning he'll step back to Cardinal again.

In terms of titles I've read that he'll be Bishop of Rome emeritus too.

[Martinus]

[Viking]

It's not a bar for trust. It is a condition which necessitates mistrust. You've got it the wrong way round.

Those are functionally equivalent, and equally silly.

No they are not. I said I was unable to trust somebody who was unable to meet condition X. It does not follow from that that meeting condition X means that I trust them.

Think of it this way. I mistrust people who are Bears fans. Person A is not a Bears fan. It does not follow that I trust Person A. Person B is a Bears fan. I does follow that I mistrust person B.

[Viking]

His dictionary is missing the pages between praetor and prairie ?

Pragmatism and "bad logic" are not synonyms.

I also continue to be baffled by Viking's apparent preference for internally consistent catastrophic error over logically inconsistent muddling.

I don't make shit up to make myself feel better. I'm not coming up with catastrophic error here, I seem to be the only person to realize that not-blue is different from red.

[Martinus]

Apparently non-photo-shop picture of St. Peter's Basilica, last night:

[Martinus]

What's the difference between the Polish and the German social system?

A Pole works until he drops dead, a German works until his retirement.

[Martinus]

Also I love that this story broke so soon because a journalist understood the Pope's Latin resignation speech. Which is impressive.

Never doubt the use of a classical education

Well I would assume a journalist posted to Vatican should speak the language.

[MadImmortalMan]

Apparently non-photo-shop picture of St. Peter's Basilica, last night:

Not to worry. Ratzinger practicing his force storms.

[Viking]

Apparently non-photo-shop picture of St. Peter's Basilica, last night:

Not to worry. Ratzinger practicing his force storms.

the bit snipped from the top of that image

[Tamas]

Exactly. One of the things that got to me when I first ventured on the Interwebs was how Americans would constantly define people by their religious denomination. It was so very alien.

In what sense?  Unless somebody is super religious, like old school Fahdiz, I do not really think we do this.

You do. the same way we Europeans use nationality

[CountDeMoney]

You do. the same way we Europeans use nationality ethnicity