A very wise move to step down. In the future, precedent has now been established. The Church cannot afford to have a 100 yo Pope with Alziehmers or dementia. Sign of the times.
Circumstances change.

ya know what..the church has done a lot of good deeds...why does the MSM just focus on the sexual abuse...which by the way...happens in our schools everyday...some by teachers....other abuse by fellow students that the teachers seem to ignore it happening.,..

“I would say that this problem of AIDS cannot be overcome with advertising slogans. If the soul is lacking, if Africans do not help one another, the scourge cannot be resolved by distributing condoms; quite the contrary, we risk worsening the problem. The solution can only come through a twofold commitment: firstly, the humanization of sexuality, in other words a spiritual and human renewal bringing a new way of behaving towards one another; and secondly, true friendship, above all with those who are suffering, a readiness - even through personal sacrifice - to be present with those who suffer. And these are the factors that help and bring visible progress.

“Therefore, I would say that our double effort is to renew the human person internally, to give spiritual and human strength to a way of behaving that is just towards our own body and the other person’s body; and this capacity of suffering with those who suffer, to remain present in trying situations.

“I believe that this is the first response [to AIDS] and that this is what the Church does, and thus, she offers a great and important contribution. And we are grateful to those that do this.” - Pope Benedict

Sorry for the long quote - it is to counter the three word quote/distortion within their ridiculous editorial.

Serious questions - will the outgoing pope be allowed to vote for the new pope? And when this pope dies, will there be a big funeral?

Look who is talking ... What have you got say you about the pervert prostitute seeker Senator from NJ? They were underage too.
Crickets...
Thought so...

Clean up your own back stoop before you start on somebody else´s.

Almost all of the priest sex abuse is homosexual oriented. The regular and moral majority among priests is doing much better than any other professional group. The WASHINGTON POST, words that are often censored themselves, continues its campaign of denigration and character assassination while approving of perverted sexual practices among (for example) politicians.

#5 Pope Benedict will remain a cardinal upon resigning the papacy, but he is over 80 years of age and therefore is ineligible to vote.

He should have brought out the fact that most of the children molested were male children, molested by male adults, homosexuals. I guess it´s fine to be gay as long as you aren´t a priest.

I like to propose a new amendment to the Contitution:

Separation of Church and Media.

They haven´t a clue about the status of the pope.

The only spiteful comments on B16 I have seen today are from the same people who want the Boy Scouts to welcome gay scout leaders. Irony much?

I have to say after reading the editorial and the comments afterwards, that anti-Catholicism and anti-religion is alive and well among the "progressive" community. So much for their posture of tolerance!

Not being a Catholic but having boundless respect for the Papacy and all Popes, I think Benedict may be setting a good example by allowing another to serve if he thinks he cannot fill the office sufficiently. (Would that secular leaders be similarly responsible to the office they hold and the people they serve).

I know this must have been an extremely difficult decision for him, and that God surely helped him make it.

"He rejected calls by Catholic progressives for reconsideration of doctrines such as celibacy and the ban on women in the priesthood;"

Well.

Priestly celibacy is a matter of church discipline and can be reconsidered. In fact, there are married men who enter the priesthood in Eastern Rite Catholic churches, and there are married priests who have been allowed to convert to the Catholic faith.

But women as priests?!? Is the Washington Post aware that Holy Orders are a sacrament that cannot be changed by any pope, ever? Sheesh, I´m not even a Catholic and I know that. Could it possibly be that there is a dearth of properly catechized, practicing Catholics among the ranks of editorial writers at the Washington Post?

Agree the Post has no credibility to justify commentary about the Pope´s shortcomings. However I also agree with their criticisms of him. Pope Benedict did NOTHING to punish the perpetrators of the sexual abuse scandal-said he did not have the authority to overrule Bishops. That said, exactly what are the responsibilities and powers of being the Pope? I just don´t get it. I was a teacher in a Catholic school and also an administrator of CCD classes. I saw everything first hand. The Church punished the brave few who spoke up and rewarded the perpetrators and kept them in power. There were absolutely NO repercussions at all either then or in to the future.

You can be Progressive or you can be the Shepherd of the faith. I see extremely little overlap.

#15 - no doubt you are familiar with the Catholic encyclopedia online at newadvent.org. You might want to read up on the nature and extent of Papal power.

The atheist editorial board of the WAP sitting in judgement of this man of God, spiritual leader of over a billion people. They probably don´t realize how ridiculous that is.

Wants to spend more time with family...

At least the pope has the courage to stand by his beliefs and has the ability to know when to step down.

Washington, not so much.

"He rejected calls by Catholic progressives for reconsideration of doctrines such as celibacy and the ban on women in the priesthood..." Bravo, Your Holiness. I had twelve years of Catholic nuns, and BELIEVE me, you do not want women priests.

Wow #19, you are a laugh riot. Back under your toadstool, scat!

I was raised Roman, but am now ACC (we are the Anglicans who left the Episcopal church because the ECUSA began ordaining women as priests back in the 70s and practice the 1928 BCP) - I would hope that the next Pope does as the current one has done and reject any prods to ordain women as well. It will fly in the very face of all the history of the Catholic church - it abrogates the very Apostolic Succession, the ´great commission´ if you will, that Christ Himself gave to the twelve, NONE of whom were women. Women have their role in the Church...and indeed, they have been among the strongest drivers and and adherents of the Church, but making them priests will not "correct a wrong." It will only slap God in the face and make the universal church of Christians a organ of humanity, not God. The Apostolic Succession was laid out as a principle of Christian sovereignty in the Nicene Creed. To get rid of that is to unravel the church, which is the REAL purpose of these progressives. Who will you follow, God, or Man?

Im sorry I just realized my lack of edit made it sound as if the 1928 BCP was a BAD thing...It isnt...the ACC practices the 1928 BCP, rejecting later versions as being far too liberal and lenient with the Holy Gospel.

I guess the problem with the pedophile priests is that they didn´t join NAMBLA. Then everything would be OK

I´m surprised that so many are so ignorant of the role of the Pope.