[5]Local Catholic voices on Pope’s resignation
Statement of Portland Archbishop Vlazny
“This decision surely results from the Pope’s personal prayer, great wisdom and genuine love of the church. The demands of his office have changed greatly during his lifetime. I must say that I admire him all the more for acknowledging with humility and trust in divine providence the need he has felt for a change in the leadership of our worldwide Catholic family. On behalf of all the Catholics here in western Oregon, I assure our dear Pope of our great appreciation for his gentle, compassionate and faithful service. I likewise promise the support of our prayers during this time of transition in the Holy See and throughout the coming years when he plans to continue his primary ministry of prayer for all of us. Viva il papa!”
The Rev. Jeremy Driscoll, Mount Angel Benedictine monk
Oregonian [6]
“So much is required and needed from the pope right now, and he really seems very tired and fragile,” he wrote in an e-mail from Rome. “It raises lots of questions and he knows it. His decision shows real courage, not to mention his own sense of trust in God to provide for the church.”
— Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, Archbishop-designate of Portland
I receive this news with a certain personal sadness, as I have a great affection for Pope Benedict XVI. He appointed me to be a bishop here in the Diocese of Marquette and now the new Archbishop of Portland. I have met him on several occasions and have always been struck by his kindness and gentle humility. I have been inspired by his steadfast and faithful leadership of the Universal Church.
I have great admiration for him as he makes this very difficult and humble decision to step down from the office of Supreme Pastor of the Church. He clearly recognizes that his strength of mind and body as he ages is no longer adequate to sustain him in such an important ministry. I have no doubt that he came to this decision through much prayer and guided by the Holy Spirit.
We now entrust the election of a new Pope to the same Holy Spirit. This is Christ’s Church, and I have faith and trust that he will raise up a new Holy Father according to his own Sacred Heart. I pray for Pope Benedict XVI. May God be good to him and sustain him in his loving care.
Text of Pope’s resignation
Source [7]:
Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
From the Vatican, 10 February 2013
BENEDICTUS PP XVI