Free Republic

The health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has worsened in the last few hours, a Vatican official said on Wednesday. "The situation at the moment remains under control and is constantly followed by doctors," Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni told reporters, adding that he could "confirm that in the last few hours there has been an worsening of his condition due to advancing age."

Pope Francis could soon promulgate a new law (in the form of an Apostolic Constitution) to regulate the resignation of the Pope, and especially the status following the resignation of a Pontiff. This is also to avoid a whole series of misleading interpretations on the existence of two Popes, on their cohabitation, on the thesis of “an enlarged papacy” and on other issues that, although not having touched the vast majority of the faithful, have fed the underground poisons of the so-called “Pope-vacantists,” [Note: “Pope” or “Papacy Vacantists”] who have come to hypothesize that the only true Pope is Ratzinger....

Pope Francis says he has no intention of quitting the papacy — a possibility opened up by his predecessor Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI. The pope, responding to a question from a young person at a Vatican event, said on Sunday “I never thought of quitting being pope, or of leaving because of the many responsibilities.” …

NY Times' op-ed contributor and Georgetown professor Paul Elie says the reign of Pope Benedict has been "all bad news, all the time." Really? Vocations, globally, are up 70% since the mid-70s. The number of diocesan priests is at an all-time, and growing faster the number of Catholics, or the global population. The population of Catholics in the world is growing faster than the global population, (1.5% to 1.3% per year) despite being centered in industrialized nations. Conversions to the Catholic church are at an all-time high. The number of students in Catholic high schools has doubled globally since the...