Pope Benedict RESIGNS as Head of Catholic Church (2013)

This Pope is Benedict XVI - another Pope of that name would be Benedict XVII

Couldnt he just pick a number that translate to Roman Numerals in a lcever fashion, (Like M&M)

Putting "XVI" in the subject line reduced my emphasis on the word "resigns" because the capital letters were adjacent to each other.

Putting the year in the subject line allowed me to both be clear and emphasize resigns at the same time.

Maybe there was a better way to do it, but I was thinking fast so I could get the thing posted.

actually hes abdicating because hes the "man"

Wow, that announcement was unexpected. The poor guy must be declining physically for some reason (possibly just age, or maybe some other medical issue as well). Anyway, his reasoning in his statement seems rational and well intentioned (for his church). Good luck to him.

They closed down the bowling alley across from St. Peter's Square.

They need somebody fit like Frank Apisa !
(...just a bit of Papal Bull...)

I hope the next Pope also takes the name Benedict.
B-17 would be an awesome nickname.

My question is "Where does the guy go to retire?"

You're sitting around with a bunch of geezers in Florida talking about what they did before they retired.
One guy says "Insurance."
Another says "Industrial Supplies."

The German guy says:

"I was the Pope of Rome."

Joe(everybody laughs)Nation

I think adding the year is a thoughtful touch.

It's going to be interesting to see how Benedict's reign will go down in history. He was closely associated with the child abuse issues in the US as cardinal and he has led the church sharply rightward in the US. He was a driver in slap down given to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and seemed to strongly encourage the US bishops to get more encouraged in politics. I'm not Catholic and primarily see the US view but my take is that he was working hard to push the church back to the 19th century instead of interpreting the modern world from a Catholic viewpoint. It will be interesting to hear from any Catholics out there.

Good luck to him.

He will be remembered for making this move...one that old men hate to make. I respect him for going forward with it...and I hope it inspires other old guys who should retire to do so!

You got that last part right, Fresco.

Had a philosophy professor once write on a paper of mine (in a class where I was not doing much studying and was fudging just trying to get by):

"Mr. Apisa, you ought visit a dairy farm. You will see that there are lots of cows...and usually only one bull. Your papers need more cow!"

Popes don't resign because of health reasons. They don't resign, period.

If the stated reason is true, I respect him. But I'm quite sure journalists around the world are checking every source they have to determine if there is more to this story. Likewise, I am suspicious.

At least one of us is ecstatic. And cautiously optimistic.

Benedict is the first to resign in 600 years, but I did find this list of other resignations.

Thanks for the list, engineer. The last pope to resign did so because of a schism. It would be interesting if the current resignation has anything to do with the growing dissatisfaction among Catholics concerning how the Church treats women's issues.

(More research is needed. Engineer's source is an oldies radio station. )

In Catholic school, rather than having to write :
"I will not punch anyone on the playground." 100 times,
we had to "Write the Popes". Ten or twenty or thirty times.
As in :"That will be enough of that horseplay, you'll both write the Popes five times."
Until a few years ago I had them set in my memory:
Peter
Linus
Anacietus (?)
Clement
Evar--something
Alexander
Sixtus
Telephoruse
Hyginus......(this one used to crack me up. I don't know. But I'd laugh and Sister Florine, yes, that was her name, would say "Mr. J-----, you can add on one more list!!!!)
Pius I
AnIcetus

and so on...

Joe (It got really fun when you could tell there were two or three Popes at the same time.)Nation

I think it was much more fun when there were three popes, they were selling church offices and indulgences, and burning Protestants right, left and center. Ah, the good old days . . .

Reminds me of the sign in the Colosseum:

SO MANY CHRISTIANS...SO FEW LIONS!