[Phlap]

Popes don’t resign. They die.

[frogjerk]

Popes don’t resign. They die.

Pope Celestine V

[Mrs. Don-o]

C332 §2 of the Code of Canon Law Papal simply states that the resignation of a pope is valid only if it is voluntary, and officially announced. The cardinals would have to be informed, since they must be absolutely certain that the Pope has really resigned or retired before they can validly proceed to elect a successor.

There have been a handful of resignations and retirements in the last 2000 years, most famously Pope Celestine V , who retired to become a hermit, and is a canonized saint. Oh, and Pope Gregory XII (1406–1415), who retired to end the Western Schism.

No problem with the infallibility thing, which is not a "personal characteristic" of a Pope. It is a characteristic of the Church. It exercised by the Pope himself, only when he is, in very rare and formally limited circumstances, defining a doctrine on faith or morals in the name of the Church.