Pope Benedict (XVI) Resigns

In a move that is unprecedented in modern history of the papacy, Pope Benedict (XVI) has resigned his position as the leader of the over one billion Catholics worldwide. In a letter he sent to the College of Cardinals, the Pope acknowledged that the recent wave of scandals involving Catholic priests has made it impossible for him to do the job he was elected to do.

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“I feel personally responsible for letting pedophile priests who molested young boys to go free,” the Pope wrote. “Instead of being punished for the atrocities they committed, they got protection from Bishops and other church leaders like me.”

In the last few weeks, Pope Benedict has been accused of doing nothing about the molestation of kids by priests while serving as the Archbishop of Munich and Freising in his home country, Germany. Memos to the then Cardinal from Fr. Gerhard Gruber have recently been published in the media to the embarrassment of the Vatican. Also as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he received complaints from American Bishops and other church leaders round the world but was too busy enforcing church doctrines that he failed to take action.

Last month, several news organizations revealed documents on how Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy molested over a 200 deaf boys from Wisconsin. The scandal was reported to the then Cardinal Ratzinger by the archbishop of Wisconsin asking the Vatican to defrock the priest. But Cardinal Ratzinger ignored the plea.

What is more shocking in Pope Benedict’s resignation letter was his decision to spend the rest of his life fighting to reform the Catholic Church.

“For the rest of my life,” the Pope wrote, “I will work to ensure that priests can marry, if they want; that women are allowed to be priest in the church; and to make sure that our great church softens its stance on social issues like gay marriage, condom use and abortion.”

Just last month, at the heat of the child abuse controversies, the Pope sent a Pastoral Letter to the Catholic Church in Ireland addressing abuse of minors by Catholic priests in the country. That letter and other push backs by the Vatican did little to steam the rash of anger towards the church by Catholics around the globe.

The news of the Pope’s resignation has spurred an immediate campaign by Italians cardinals to retake the position of the Pope. The campaign is going on despite Pope Benedict’s suggestion in his resignation letter that the College of Cardinals might be well served if it looks outside Europe for his replacement.

Speaking to Zero News Network (ZNN), the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Rowan Williams said, “This is a sad day for the whole church of Christ.” He added that he hoped that the Catholic Church would survive this and come out stronger than ever.

In his reaction, the General Overseers of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Rev. Enoch Adebayo said to ZNN, “Please, tell me this is April fool's joke.”