Posted on 02/12/2013 7:45:06 AM PST by Alex Murphy
ROME — A day after Pope Benedict XVI stunned Roman Catholics by announcing that he would resign at the end of the month, the Vatican disclosed new details about his physical well-being on Tuesday, saying he had been fitted with a heart pacemaker a decade ago but that had not influenced his decision to become the first pope in almost 600 years to step down.
The disclosure about the device, whose existence was not widely known, came as the Vatican grappled with a series of logistical questions raised by a decision that gave Benedict just 17 days to wind up his almost eight-year papacy.
At a news conference, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman said the pacemaker was installed some years ago, while the pope was still a cardinal before his election in 2005. The batteries were replaced three months ago in a routine prodecure that had not influenced the pope’s thinking about resigning, Father Lombardi said.
The intervention was “just a routine change of batteries, not an important operation.”
“This did not weigh on his decision, it is more about his forces diminishing.”
When he announced his resignation on Monday, the pope cited advancing years and weakness, saying his strength “has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”
Greg Burke, the Vatican’s senior communications adviser, said the pacemaker was fitted roughly 10 years ago — a period when Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was the head of the Vatican’s main doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“You don’t resign because you have a pacemaker or because you have a new battery for a pacemaker,” Mr. Burke said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Good grief! The man is old, feels old and knows that a younger man would be able to do the role as well or better than him.
My father is 83 and has a pacemaker and is in generally good health. I asked him how he would like to have the pace at which Benedict works, with the travel and constant meetings and greetings, not to mention the supervision of Papal documents and his own writing. My dad said, "I don't know how he keeps up with it all. Just thinking about what he does leaves me exhausted."
Before pacemakers pope's just died. There are enough good, younger, healthy men for the Holy Spirit to chose from.
To be fair to the current Pope, I am sure he was blocked more than once by Sodano
http://christianchildabuse.blogspot.com/2010/07/cardinal-sodano-is-catastrophe-waiting.html
Notice the motive
Money
Let’s not forget about Bertone who halted serial pedophile Lawrence Murphy’s canonical trial...
Thank you for this thoughtful sober post. Praying hard every day!
He is not strong enough to deal with the Tsunami.
The Catholic Church is entangled in a Vatican Bank Scandal that is growing worse.
Tourists couldn’t even use credit cards at the Vatican in January. Don’t know if that has been resolved yet.
The Child Molesting scandal is growing worse - now Mahony , one of the most powerful Catholic leaders in the US has been stripped of his duties
And the Pope is fighting an internal power struggle.
Too much for the guy who didn’t even want the job.
He has been forced out over the Vatican Bank scandal.
Sounds good to me. Hope you’re right.
Furthermore, the Roman Curia IS full of political-minded players, and not all of them playing on the same team.
FWIW, here's my view:
From the moment he was elected, Pope Benedict made it clear that he hadn't wanted to be Pope: he said that the announcement felt "like a guillotine blade coming down."
Knowing that at his age he'd only have a few years, and knowing all the sotto-voce skulduggery that goes on in any big institution, especially the Roman Curia, I'm betting he has been planning for his successor from Day One back in April 2005.
He's a patient man. He's planned 15 moves ahead, putting the chess pieces in place. Now, announcing RIGHT before Lent, he's basically forcing the Cardinals to wrap it up quick, because none of them wants to be out of their Diocese for the whole Holy Season, and certainly not for Easter.
Plus, with Benedict still being alive, they can each of them come in to consult with him, personally, if they want, about his successor. And he can undermine the plotters (yes, there are plotters, too: people who side with the Enemy.) This careful planning--- I hope --- is the long-term architecture of the thing. I think Benedict's moves are wise, Spirit-guided, brilliant.
Then, Benedict is going to retire to a life of intense prayer in a monastic setting.
Something big coming.
Really big.
Good Christian friends, good people: pray, pray. pray.
So what did the Pope and the Vatican Bank do when they could no longer take credit cards because of failure to comply with EU banking rules?????
What does a good mobster do??? Find a way around providing the transparency.
http://www.redliontrader.com/streamingnews/vatican-can-take-credit-cards-again/
Still think the Vatican isn’t hiding money laundering???
/
CC
It appears to me that he is not strong enough to fight the Catholic “machine”.
It appears he wanted to clean up the Vatican Bank but maybe it can’t be cleaned up.
When you have an organization that has been standing as long as the Catholic Church - there are very powerful forces you have to contend with.
.
“”What you have to understand, John, is that sometimes there are forces and events too big, too powerful, with so much at stake for other people or institutions, that you cannot do anything about them, not matter how evil or wrong they are and no matter how dedicated or sincere you are or how much evidence you have. That is simply one of the hard facts of life you have to face.” ~ William Colby - Former CIA director found dead after a boating accident.
The Pope thing of the Present is not the same as in the past.
“The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, is a powerful man in the Vatican. Maybe he is the most powerful. It was he who pulled in Brulhart. That should go some way to oil the investigation. How far is uncertain.”
http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2012/06/ex-head-of-vatican-bank-planned-to-give.html
Ettore Gotti Tedeschi feared for his life because his efforts to crack down on alleged money laundering and making the bank’s operations more transparent had targeted accounts held by mafia godfathers, the Italian media reported.
The banker was preparing to send a copy of a dossier of letters, emails and other documents that he had compiled to Monsignor Georg Ganswein, one of Benedict XVI’s two private secretaries.
He had also requested a private audience with the Pope a few days before he was ousted by the board of the bank on May 24 after three years at the helm of the institution.
He left instructions with his secretary to send two other copies to a lawyer and to a prominent Italian journalist, with notes saying that if anything happened to him, the explanation would be found within the documents.
The secret dossier consisted of 47 binders of documents, including some which related to Mr Gotti Tedeschi’s efforts to convince Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state and de facto prime minister, of the need to clean up the bank’s activities so that the city state could join an international “white list” of financially transparent countries.
Cardinal Bertone allegedly tried to water down some anti-money laundering regulations that Mr Gotti Tedeschi, 67, wanted to adopt, and engineered the banker’s dismissal.
The Vatican has denied the allegations and has claimed that it was in fact Mr Gotti Tedeschi who was dragging his feet on the reforms.
For the past few papal elections there has always been buzz in the press (wishful thinking) about some uber-liberal cardinal getting the nod and ushering the church into a new era of enlightenment where values are relative,judgement is considered mean, "dogma" is set aside in favor of reaching out" and "inclusivness" and the church openly embraces liberation theology (a.k.a. marxism dressed in religous robes) but they've been disappointed when snarling conservative pontiffs like JP II and Benedict (whom the smeared with Nazi innuendo as "the panzer pontiff") have gotten in instead.
Perhaps Benedict wanted to ensure that the legacy of he and his mentor is not wiped aside by some John XXIII wannabe.
Amen. I don't know what page you are reading from, but I think I found it last night. Just before prayers, I just got the very strong impression that "something has changed." What immediately came to mind was BXVI's resignation. Another thing that impressed me was that the burden of worry and anxiety for all that is happening felt somehow lighter. The Lord is Just. His timing is perfect. And HE IS WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE. Glory to Him, forever!
Oh, and I agree: PRAY, PRAY, PRAY. Remember Jesus' words, "This kind can only come out with prayer and fasting."
Tsgt
I guess you know all about that.....
One person who got his first pacemaker in 1968 has gone through 12 of them and is still doing well.
Yes, he was reluctant. I think for pope’s one could apply D-fendr’s cop rule: “Anyone who really needs this job is disqualified for it.”
As I look back on his accomplishments, I am most amazed at the incredible and good effect he had in just eight years - while not in good health.
Thank God for Pope Benedict.
LOL! Obsessive... projecting...
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