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Students respond to resignation

Though Pope Benedict XVI's Monday resignation heralded changes in the Roman Catholic Church, Notre Dame and Saint Mary's students retained faith in its leader. Pope Benedict will officially step down Feb. 28 and the cardinals' conclave will begin shortly afterwards. Senior Molly Herber said her initial surprise faded to respect as she read Pope Benedict's rationale behind his decision. "It seems that this is the right time in his life to make this decision, and if he feels he can't handle the responsibilities of the role - which I imagine must be thousands and all of them exhausting - then I fully respect his decision to do what he feels is best for himself and for the community," Herber said. Catalina Zalduendo, a Saint Mary's sophomore currently studying in Rome, woke up to the news before most students on the Notre Dame and Saint Mary's campuses were even awake. "My first thought was 'I'm going to be in Rome during the election of a new pope ... I am the most fortunate person in the world,'" Zalduendo said. "I am still in shock that this is happening while I'm studying here and that I will be able to personally witness an event that will go do down in history forever." Junior John McKissick said he expects this decision to set a precedent suggesting future popes should seriously assess whether or not they are able to complete the duties of the office. "It's a decision that was off limits for a lot of popes," McKissick said. "Just think about Pope John Paul II - he wasn't looking too good in the year before he was about to pass, and during that time the Church especially could have used some leadership because that's when the child abuse scandals were first coming out." Nikki Charter, a Saint Mary's sophomore currently studying abroad in Rome, said she believes the Pope stepping down is a brave decision. "We have known that his health has been deteriorating and I hope he can find comfort in the decision. The cultural and political climate is buzzing in Rome. This was a complete surprise to everyone," Charter said. "We were talking to a few deacons and they said no one expected this." Senior Peter Flores said he will be sad to see Pope Benedict leave his position. "I am sad when I think of losing Pope Benedict as the leader of the Catholic Church so far as I have grown to love him as my father," Flores said. "It's been really been a special thing as I learn more about his life and his works as Joseph Ratzinger and then as I know him now as the Pope and Holy Father." Mileva Brunson, a Saint Mary's junior who studied abroad in Rome last spring, said attending multiple services at the Vatican with Pope Benedict - including Palm Sunday - amazed her. "The energy of the audience was one of reverence and excitement to be in the presence of Pope Benedict," Brunson said. "And even in his old age, he seemed to get such joy from being surrounded by the hundreds of thousands of people to join in the celebration of Palm Sunday with him." Junior Louann Lopez said she had been unaware that popes could resign from office. "I suppose it's something I had always considered to be a lifetime commitment," Lopez said. "I still remember when Benedict was ordained, it's odd to think we are already going to experience that process all over again such a short period of time later." Flores said he hopes the new pope will continue in the vein of previous popes. "I think with the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can be assured of that, but I would hope that whoever is elected pope will carry on in the spirit of the new evangelization and continue the work that Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict started," Flores said. Senior GillyStoy said he will look for the cardinals to choose Pope Benedict's successor with the future of the Church in mind. "The gates have opened and the politicking has begun," Stoy said. "I'd love to see a man who is a bit more jovial, a bit more young, who could be more energetic and energizing for the Catholic youth, especially."

CSC program fosters community involvement

The Center for Social Concerns is partnering with the College of Engineering and College of Science to provide research opportunities in the local community for faculty and students.

Community reflects on Pope's impact

Fr. Brian Daley first encountered Pope Benedict XVI when he was simply known as Fr. Joseph Ratzinger, a German theologian with a brilliant mind in the days after the Second Vatican Council. Daley, who was pursuing a graduate degree in theology in Frankfurt, received a copy of Ratzinger's lectures as one of his texts. The texts had not even been published yet, but Daley said those writings inspired him as a student. "They were really hot stuff, they were not printed," he said. "They were just kind of photocopied. ... They were really exciting and wonderful stuff." Now, as the 85-year-old pope prepares to step down from the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Daley recalled his first encounters with the German theologian. Daley, now a theology professor, met Ratzinger in person on a retreat during those early years as a student. As Ratzinger and another retreat leader led discussions on the person of Christ, Daley said the future pope spoke informally and without notes. "He said Mass for us every day," Daley said. "That was a lovely meeting. He probably wouldn't remember me ... but I've always remembered him. He's very personable, easy to get along with, not at all the figure the media sometimes presents." Years later, Daley approached the same man again in October 2012. This time, they were in the Vatican, and Pope Benedict XVI was presenting the professor with the 2012 Ratzinger Prize in Theology. The award recognized Daley's work on early Christianity, which he said is also one of Benedict's interests. "It was a total surprise to me. ... I was very moved to receive it, bowled over," he said. When Daley approached the pope at the award ceremony, he said Pope Benedict spoke with him in German, as they had spoken years before. "He knew what I had been working on. ... He knew about Notre Dame," Daley said. "It was a very warm and cordial meeting. I was really delighted to meet him and humbled by the opportunity." While the pope steps down, Daley said Benedict's legacy as a theologian will remain a defining factor of his tenure at the head of the Church. "He is first and foremost a theologian, a really remarkable theologian, one of the great theologians of the Catholic Church," Daley said. "People who know him well say this is what he loves to do." Another Notre Dame theology professor also recently visited the Vatican - department chair John Cavadini. Cavadini presented Benedict with a copy of a book he had edited titled "Explorations of Benedict XVI's Theology." Cavadini described their meeting as "a huge honor" that he would never forget. "It was a beautiful moment," Cavadini said in an email interview. "He smiled and grasped my hand with his and thanked me. He seemed genuinely pleased. "He seemed to smile too when he saw the imprint: University of Notre Dame." Cavadini said Monday's announcement was surprising but admirable as the pope grew older. Benedict attributed his resignation to a lack of physical and mental strength to continue the job. "I think it's a beautiful example, to know when you can't do a job to your own standards for the job, and not to cling to power," he said. The pope's decision to step down was in some ways "a welcome precedent," he said. "After all, bishops are required to turn in their resignations at 75," he said. "The pope is a unique case, so the policy should not simply transfer, but I think on the whole it makes it easier for someone to realize when maybe they are not performing at the level they themselves expect of others."

Professor credits Pope's decision

Joseph Incandela, associate dean of faculty and the Hank Aquinas Chair in Catholic theology, said he shared many Catholics' surprise at the Pope's resignation announcement but that in some ways, it was not completely unexpected. "I think everyone was surprised, even people that earn their living as Vatican watchers, and who wouldn't be because something like this doesn't happen," Incandela said. "After the initial reaction, there are some traces where this was forecast, making it less surprising. [Pope Benedict XVI] talked about this in a 2010 book that he wrote, not so much in relation to himself, but he sort of flowed into the possibility about a pope retiring if there were physical incapacities or something along those lines." Incandela added that for people who have been watching the Pope closely, he seems to have slowed down within the past year or so. "I looked around online about [the resignation] and when Pope John Paul II died, he was 84, so he was actually younger than Benedict XVI is now," Incandela said. "Now clearly he is in better health than John Paul II was at this age, but I wonder if the move for Benedict XVI from 84 to 85 was coupled with what he saw of John Paul II at the end, which was a long, slow decline that was obviously immensely painful, not just for John Paul II but for the Church as well." Incandela gave Pope Benedict XVI credit for his resignation while his health is in decline. "He is resigning because he thinks it is in the best interest of the Church," he said. "When you think that 85 is not that old anymore because of medical advances, you could think of someone living in years and years of really debilitated, potentially incapacitated, health." As for what will occur during the waiting period between now and when the Pope steps down and a new pope is elected, Incandela said the Church will be at somewhat of a standstill. "Nothing happens when the organizational structure has no one at the top," he said. "When you see all of the pieces it does make sense, I think." Since a papal resignation has not occurred in centuries, Incandela stressed how different this procedure will be from the more recent papal elections. "This is completely new ground for anyone that is alive today. What usually happens is that a pope dies and the Cardinals go to Rome for the funeral. This makes the in between period after the death and before the election relatively short," Incandela said. "The Cardinals go to Rome for the funeral and then remain until the new pope is elected. It is fairly compressed. Usually when a pope is near death, people are not talking about the next conclave, it's just unseemly. "Here's a very different situation where someone is not dying on the last day of office, but saying that February 28 is the final day and 8 p.m. is the final hour. It is more reasonable that the machinery could get going now without insulting anyone's memory." While this may be a new situation for anyone alive today, there is a sentence in the Code of Canon Law which states that a pope must resign his office freely. "They want to avoid any sense of coercion into retirement for a pope. So that's why in his statement he really went out of his way to make sure that came across," Incandela said. "That was the only thing he had to say. Beyond that, there's no sense of what a pope does to retire." While there will be no new pope until the conclave concludes, the Dean of the College of Cardinals is technically the first among equals during this time, Incandela said. "The Dean of the College of Cardinals is basically the person that runs the show between now and the election of the new pope. In 2005, that person was Joseph Ratzinger, which is kind of an odd coincidence of him being elected after holding that position," Incandela said. "Technically the dean is the first among equals, but the Church can't do anything now without a pope. It's just really a matter of running the day-to-day bureaucracy of the place." As for what Benedict will do once he has left office, Incandela can only speculate. "I've read in a few places that he is going into a cloistered monastery within the Vatican to live with nuns. But wherever he ends up, I expect he will keep an extremely low profile," Incandela said. "Benedict XVI has always been a scholar, writing several books during his papacy, so I imagine he will remain a scholar after he leaves office. But then again, who knows."  

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