Benedict XVI's abdication shook the Catholic Church. It is said that this amazing act has forever transformed Papacy. Many cardinals believe that this should not be the case, and Pope Francis himself hesitates in his assessments – from the enthusiastic praise of the resignation act a fewer years ago he went on to declare that the Pope should stay in office until his death...
Less than 2 months have passed since the death of erstwhile Pope Benedict XVI. It is besides a lot and a little: a lot, due to the fact that during this time there has been quite a few highly interesting book publications, including those that uncover previously unknown facts from the life of Joseph Ratzinger – especially concerning the period after the abdication, including the relationship, not always easy to connect with Pope Francis.
Little, for neither months nor 2 years will even suffice to work the theological achievements of the deceased. We stand only at the beginning of the task of attracting the rich legacy of Benedict XVI to the Church – from his liturgical works, through the eschatology to the Christological work of his life.
Regardless of everything Joseph Ratzinger did and wrote, present it is impossible to talk of him without mentioning primarily the fundamental act of his pontificate: abdication, which he announced on February 11, 2013, which came into force at 28 February that year at 8:00 p.m.
A decade has passed since then: a minute that has shaken Catholics all over the planet and, in truth, continues to shake until today. Despite the passing of years, we are inactive not only certain how to measure Benedict XVI's decisions, but besides how to realize it from the theological and juridical sides. The unprecedented resignation of the incumbent Pope over the past centuries is inactive a powerful intellectual, spiritual and moral confession for us.
Benedict himself, I think, struggled for the remainder of his life with the consequences of his step. Resigning, he was convinced that he would last a year at most. Well, God gave him much more time—and the chance to observe the pontificate of his successor, which was not always easy. In interviews he gave during the post-pontifical period, he tried in various ways to justify his step; it seems that while shortly after his resignation everything was clear to him, later doubts were increasing. After all, many cardinals point out that papal resignations are not and should never become average in the Church.
We would like to offer you an e-book on this day: "Benedict XVI. Pro memoria". We have gathered a number of texts and statements published on our website, alongside fresh content, after the death of the erstwhile Pope. These are texts by the editor-in-chief of PCh24.pl Krystian Kratiuk and another editors of our portal, Filip Adamus and the undersigned; these are besides statements by respective excellent experts of the pontificate Benedict XVI – Fr. prof. Paweł Bortkiewicz, Prof. Marek Kornata, Dr. Paweł Milcark and ed. Tomasz Rowinski.
I hope reading this e-book “Benedict XVI. Pro memoria’ will let you to reflect a fewer moments on what Pope Benedict left to the Church: and he left a lot, even if not everything, like the groundbreaking resignation, is easy for us to accept and understand.
Paweł Chmielewski
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