"It's Like My Grandfather Decided to Retire"

If I could pick anywhere in the world to be during this next month besides Rome, it would be Franciscan University of Steubenville.  Every other conversation I overhear on campus is about the Pope's decision to retire.  And every one is full of love for the soon-to-be former pontiff.  The classmate who spoke the title of this post into being had it right.  The head of our family, filled with love, wisdom, and grace, is stepping down.

In 2005, as I prepared to graduate high school, the only Holy Father I had ever known passed away, leaving the world mourning the loss of a deeply holy and unbelievably charismatic man.  When Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope, I had barely heard of him and was sure that I could love no one as much as my Polish pontiff.  A few years later, as I began my M.A. program, I started reading more of the new Pope's writings and changed my mind.  He impressed me as a scholar and a shepherd, a man of sharp intellect and great wisdom, whose love of Christ reached through him to his fellow man.  Now, as I prepare to leave graduate school, I find myself once again awaiting a new shepherd.

Papa Benedict, on February 28th, will join the ranks of retired popes -- making the third one in Church history.  Celestine V retired in 1294 after a five and a half month papacy.  He returned to his beloved ascetic life and, after his death, was canonized.  Gregory XII was one of three claimants to the pontificate in the early 1400s.  In order to reunite the Church, he agreed to retire after convening a council to elect a new pope.  (The two anti-popes were deposed.)  Neither of these stories end well for the retired pope, so we don't have a clear idea of the role of the former pope.

One thing is for certain, however.  He will continue to act under the guidance of the Spirit, as he has done for years. In the words of Timothy Cardinal Dolan:

The Holy Father brought the tender heart of a pastor, the incisive mind of a scholar and the confidence of a soul united with His God in all he did. His resignation is but another sign of his great care for the Church.

St. Peter, pray for us, for the Church, for Papa Benedict, and for our next Pope!