Papal abdication
Encyclopedia
Papal resignation is envisaged as a possibility in canon 332 §2 of the Code of Canon Law and canon 44 §2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches
. The only conditions for the validity of the resignation are that it be made freely and be manifested properly.
Canon law does not specify any particular individual or body or people to whom the Pope
must manifest his resignation, leaving perhaps open the possibility of doing so to the Church or the world in general. But some commentators hold that the college of cardinals
or at least its Dean
must be informed, since the cardinals must be absolutely certain that the Pope has renounced the dignity before they can validly proceed to elect a successor.
The term "abdication" is not used in the official documents of the Church for resignation by a Pope.
agreed, for financial advantage, to resign the papacy. Pope Gregory VI
, who to rid the Church of the scandalous Benedict IX had persuaded him to resign and became his successor, himself resigned in 1046 because the arrangement he had entered into was considered simoniacal
; that is, to have been paid for. His successor, Pope Clement II
, died in 1047 and Benedict IX became Pope again.
The best known example of the resignation of a Pope is that of Pope Celestine V
in 1294. After only five months of pontificate, he issued a solemn decree declaring it permissible for a Pope to resign, and then did so himself. He lived two more years as a hermit
and has been canonized. The papal decree that he issued ended any doubt among canonists about the possibility of a valid papal resignation.
The last Pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII
(1406–1415), who did so to end the Western Schism
, which had reached the point where there were three claimants to the papal throne, Roman Pope Gregory XII, Avignon Pope
Benedict XIII
, and Pisan pope Antipope John XXIII
. Before resigning he formally convened the already existing Council of Constance
and authorized it to elect his successor.
(1800–1823), signed a document of resignation to take effect if he were imprisoned in France.
It has been claimed that during World War II
, Pius XII drew up a document with instructions that, if he were kidnapped by the Nazis
, he was to be considered to have resigned his office, and the Cardinals were to flee to neutral Portugal
and elect a successor.
Pope John Paul II
wrote a letter of resignation in case if he were to come down with a incurable disease or if anything happened that would keep him from fulfilling his duties.
denied that he had any intention to do so.
If requested, a diocesan bishop must offer his resignation from the governance of his diocese on completion of his seventy-fifth year of age and cardinals are not allowed to join a conclave
after reaching eighty. However, there is no requirement for a Pope to resign upon reaching any particular age. Since the enactment of these rules concerning diocesan bishops and cardinals, three Popes, Paul VI
, John Paul II
and Benedict XVI
, reached the age of eighty during their pontificates but did not resign.
Apart from stating that, if the See of Rome is completely impeded, no innovation is to be made in the governance of the universal Church, and that the special laws enacted for these circumstances are to be observed, canon law makes no provision for the eventuality that a Pope is temporarily or permanently incapacitated for reasons of health, an assassination attempt or captivity, nor does it indicate what individual or body or group has the authority to certify that the Pope is totally impeded from exercising his office.
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches
The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches is the title of the 1990 codification of the common portions of the Canon Law for the 22 of the 23 sui iuris Churches in the Catholic Church. The Roman or Latin rite Church is guided by its own particular Canons...
. The only conditions for the validity of the resignation are that it be made freely and be manifested properly.
Canon law does not specify any particular individual or body or people to whom the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
must manifest his resignation, leaving perhaps open the possibility of doing so to the Church or the world in general. But some commentators hold that the college of cardinals
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
or at least its Dean
Dean of the College of Cardinals
The Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals is the president of the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, and as such always holds the rank of Cardinal Bishop. The Dean is not necessarily the longest-serving member of the whole College...
must be informed, since the cardinals must be absolutely certain that the Pope has renounced the dignity before they can validly proceed to elect a successor.
The term "abdication" is not used in the official documents of the Church for resignation by a Pope.
Precedents
In 1045, Pope Benedict IXPope Benedict IX
Pope Benedict IX , born Theophylactus of Tusculum, was Pope on three occasions between 1032 and 1048. One of the youngest popes, he was the only man to have been Pope on more than one occasion and the only man ever to have sold the papacy.-Biography:Benedict was born in Rome as Theophylactus, the...
agreed, for financial advantage, to resign the papacy. Pope Gregory VI
Pope Gregory VI
Pope Gregory VI , born John Gratian , was Pope from 1 May 1045 until his abdication at the Council of Sutri on 20 December 1046....
, who to rid the Church of the scandalous Benedict IX had persuaded him to resign and became his successor, himself resigned in 1046 because the arrangement he had entered into was considered simoniacal
Simony
Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus , who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24...
; that is, to have been paid for. His successor, Pope Clement II
Pope Clement II
Pope Clement II , was Pope from December 25, 1046 to his death. He was the first in a series of reform-minded popes from Germany.Born in Hornburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, he was the son of Count Konrad of Morsleben and Hornburg and his wife Amulrad.In 1040, he became Bishop of Bamberg...
, died in 1047 and Benedict IX became Pope again.
The best known example of the resignation of a Pope is that of Pope Celestine V
Pope Celestine V
Pope Saint Celestine V, born Pietro Angelerio , also known as Pietro da Morrone was elected pope in the year 1294, by the papal election of 1292–1294, the last non-conclave in the history of the Roman Catholic Church...
in 1294. After only five months of pontificate, he issued a solemn decree declaring it permissible for a Pope to resign, and then did so himself. He lived two more years as a hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
and has been canonized. The papal decree that he issued ended any doubt among canonists about the possibility of a valid papal resignation.
The last Pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII
Pope Gregory XII
Pope Gregory XII , born Angelo Correr or Corraro, Pope from 1406 to 1415, succeeded Pope Innocent VII on 30 November 1406....
(1406–1415), who did so to end the Western Schism
Western Schism
The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417. Two men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope. Driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance . The simultaneous claims to the papal chair...
, which had reached the point where there were three claimants to the papal throne, Roman Pope Gregory XII, Avignon Pope
Avignon Papacy
The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven Popes resided in Avignon, in modern-day France. This arose from the conflict between the Papacy and the French crown....
Benedict XIII
Antipope Benedict XIII
Benedict XIII, born Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor , known as in Spanish, was an Aragonese nobleman, who is officially considered by the Catholic Church to be an antipope....
, and Pisan pope Antipope John XXIII
Antipope John XXIII
Baldassarre Cossa was Pope John XXIII during the Western Schism. The Catholic Church regards him as an antipope.-Biography:...
. Before resigning he formally convened the already existing Council of Constance
Council of Constance
The Council of Constance is the 15th ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418. The council ended the Three-Popes Controversy, by deposing or accepting the resignation of the remaining Papal claimants and electing Pope Martin V.The Council also condemned and...
and authorized it to elect his successor.
Alleged conditional resignations not put into effect
Before setting out for Paris to crown Napoleon in 1804, Pope Pius VIIPope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...
(1800–1823), signed a document of resignation to take effect if he were imprisoned in France.
It has been claimed that during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Pius XII drew up a document with instructions that, if he were kidnapped by the Nazis
Alleged plot to kidnap Pope Pius XII
Several authors have alleged a plot to kidnap Pope Pius XII by the Nazis when they occupied Rome during World War II. SS General Karl Wolff stated that he had been ordered on September 13, 1943 to kidnap the pope....
, he was to be considered to have resigned his office, and the Cardinals were to flee to neutral Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and elect a successor.
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
wrote a letter of resignation in case if he were to come down with a incurable disease or if anything happened that would keep him from fulfilling his duties.
Incapacitation
In the years leading up to his death in 2005, some writers suggested that John Paul II ought to resign due to his failing health, but Vatican officialsRoman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
denied that he had any intention to do so.
If requested, a diocesan bishop must offer his resignation from the governance of his diocese on completion of his seventy-fifth year of age and cardinals are not allowed to join a conclave
Papal conclave
A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who then becomes the Pope during a period of vacancy in the papal office. The Pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church...
after reaching eighty. However, there is no requirement for a Pope to resign upon reaching any particular age. Since the enactment of these rules concerning diocesan bishops and cardinals, three Popes, Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
, John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
and Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, reached the age of eighty during their pontificates but did not resign.
Apart from stating that, if the See of Rome is completely impeded, no innovation is to be made in the governance of the universal Church, and that the special laws enacted for these circumstances are to be observed, canon law makes no provision for the eventuality that a Pope is temporarily or permanently incapacitated for reasons of health, an assassination attempt or captivity, nor does it indicate what individual or body or group has the authority to certify that the Pope is totally impeded from exercising his office.