On a first level of analysis, Benedict’s shocking announcement would seem to contradict the image of the papacy as left by his predecessor. John Paul II kept heading the global Catholic Church despite old age and the major illnesses that characterised the last few years of his pontificate. This begs the question as to whether the two popes held different views of the institution they represented.
Intrinsically, the two are not as divergent as they might appear. Each gesture, in its own ways, sent an important message about the recognition of the frailty and limits of the human condition while simultaneously recognising the huge responsibility and immense tasks that come with taking on the role of head of the Catholic Church.
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Image: Pope Benedict XVI prays in front of the image of Our Lady of Fatima after arriving to catholic Fatima shrine in central Portugal, May 12, 2010
Credit: Catholic Church (England and Wales) from Flickr
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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