Benedict should have ended his tenure as Pope feet-first.
When a man is in his eighties, and has spent so many decades inside a system, there are certain things that are just done in a certain way. And the whole system for choosing and advancing prelates is a big machine. And Satan loves machines of that sort.
I have always thought that Burke should have told Benedict, “It’s either me or Wuerl, but not both.” But that’s another thing that Just Isn’t Done.
Pope Benedict XVI Emeritus did not vote for Pope Francis. Maybe he decided to step down because he did not want to end up still being Pope and suffering from physical/mental issues like what St. Pope John Paul II went through before he passed on.
We have been told it was Benedict’s choice. I have my doubts.