Last February 22, on my way to Taiwan to visit our sisters, I
was asked twice by the airport personnel, young people at that, how I feel about
Benedict XVI’s resignation as Pope. I remember giving a spontaneous, sentimental
answer: “very sad, but I also feel that we need to respect his decision.”
I know that here in my country the Philippines with approximately
80% Catholic population people grappled with the question: how come the late
Pope John Paul stayed on until death despite all his suffering and the sometimes
“embarrassing” appearances during the last period of his Pontificate? That
time, the answer given seemed to be “Christ crucified, though tested and
tempted, did not come down from his cross.” I remember hearing these lines
myself when I attended the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of
his Pontificate at St. Peter’s Square in October 2003, two years before his
demise.
Now Benedict XVI opted to leave his office as Pope lastFebruary 28, 2013, stating that the reason
for his decision was his declining health due to old age. The media
here in the Philippines was quick to pose the enigmatic question: how could he say
something which, in all appearances, seems to contradict what his predecessor
said. And since then there have been all kinds of speculations, searching for
the million-dollar motive behind Pope BXVI’s resignation.
As I allow myself to be guided by his book Jesus of Nazareth Part II in this Lenten
journey, I couldn’t help but truly admire our Pope Emeritus. I honestly feel
that someone who has believed and known our Lord, written about Him and served
Him as His Vicar, could not help but take such a drastic decision, in coherence
to everything that he believed in and lived for. I think Pope BXVI has always
wanted to give the Lord the “best” of himself out of his love for Jesus and his
Church. As he said in the beginning of his Pontificate, he wanted to listen to “what
is God’s will.” He did and acted accordingly all these 8 years. In this last period of his Pontificate, perhaps the question could be translated thus: “how could he be faithful to
Jesus and His Church, given the limited resources he now has as a person?”
Could his resignation be the answer to that? I see it as his
way of following Christ crucified; he, the Pope, follows Jesus his Teacher and
Lord by renouncing the Chair of Peter, relinquishing his power and authority,
offering himself, in a way, anticipating his own death – since tradition has it
that only upon the Supreme Pontiff’s death should a new one be elected. In so
doing, he paves the way to the reform of Christ’s body - his Church - and hopefully, its
resurrection. His resignation, his “laying down of himself”
following Jesus his Lord and Teacher, is the greatest reform of his Pontificate.
In the end, I believe both John Paul II and Benedict XVI
walked their talk: they both followed their Master and Lord to the best of their abilities. Let us thank the Lord for
them and let us pray for whoever the Lord will call next as His Vicar on earth. If you want to follow the conclave through the Vatican Radio website, click here or you can also follow through FB by clicking here
