LONDON - All but the most informed Vatican-watchers were scrambling for the references books on Monday to find a precedent for the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, whose decision to step down stunned the Roman Catholic world.
The tradition has been for pontiffs to reign for their natural life span. And, not since 1415, when Gregory XII stood down, has a pope surrendered the keys of St Peter.
It was an era when the role of the papacy was as temporal as it was spiritual. Gregory’s departure helped end the Great Schism in the Catholic Church that had divided it for four decades and saw the emergence of rival popes and anti-popes in Rome and Avignon
Gregory XII was one of three rival claimants by the time the conflict was resolved and unity restored.
In a schism that had nothing to do with theology, rival European monarchs supported rival popes for their own temporal reasons.
“The greater number of the Italian and German states, England, and Flanders supported the pope of Rome,†as the Catholic Encyclopedia described it. “On the other hand France, Spain, Scotland, and all the nations in the orbit of France were for the pope of Avignon.â€
The cooperative Gregory only stepped down when his powerful temporal sponsors had safeguarded their interests in the unified papacy that followed.
Gregory’s resignation did not, of course, mark the end of the political centrality of the papacy in European affairs, even into the last century.
The last pope who might have resigned for political reasons (but didn’t) was Pius XII. Documents quoted from the Vatican archives revealed that the wartime pontiff told sen! ior bishops that, should he be arrested by the Nazis, his resignation would become effective immediately.
It has been suggested that Adolf Hitler had ordered the kidnapping of Pius because he feared he would further criticize the Nazis’ treatment of the Jews. The Nazi leader is said to have feared that Pius could inspire resistance to the Germans in Italy and other Catholic countries.
Others have challenged this analysis on the grounds that it reflects an attempt by the Vatican to defend Pius XII against charges that he did not do enough to defend persecuted Jews.
Either version serves to underline the continued weight given to the status of the papacy, even in relatively recent European politics.
Benedict himself came to the defense of his predecessor in 2010, describing hi in a lengthy interview as “one of the great righteous men,†who saved more Jews than anyone.
In that same interview, in retrospect, he might have prepared the church for his premature departure.
“If a pope realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically or spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office,†he said, “then he has a right, and, under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.â€
