Pope To Resign Feb. 28, Says He's Too Infirm - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

Pope To Resign Feb. 28 Due To Age, Health Reasons; Conclave Expected In March

Posted: Updated:

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict is stepping down on Feb. 28, becoming the first pontiff in 600 years to resign.
    
The 85-year-old pope says he lacks the strength to fulfill his duties.
    
The surprise announcement came today during a meeting of Vatican cardinals. It sets the stage for a conclave in March to elect a new leader for world's 1 billion Catholics.
    
Benedict says that carrying out the duties of being pope requires "both strength of mind and body." And he says he has concluded that his strengths "are no longer suited" to doing the job adequately.
    
The Vatican says no specific medical condition prompted Benedict's decision. In recent years, the pope has slowed down significantly, cutting back his foreign travel and limiting his audiences. His 89-year-old brother says doctors had recently advised the pope not to take any more trans-Atlantic trips.
    
Benedict had made clear in the past he would step down if he became too old or infirm to do the job.
    
When he was elected in 2005 at age 78, he was the oldest pope chosen in nearly 300 years and had been planning to retire to his native Bavaria.

Report: Pope was considering quitting for months
    
BERLIN (AP) - The pope's brother, Georg Ratzinger, says the pontiff had been advised by his doctor not to take any more transatlantic trips and had been considering stepping down for months.
    
Pope Benedict announced today that he's resigning Feb. 28.
    
Georg Ratzinger tells the news agency dpa that his brother is having increasing difficulty walking and that his resignation is part of a "natural process."
    
Ratzinger says, "His age is weighing on him.

NY Cardinal Dolan: Startled by pope's announcement
    
NEW YORK (AP) - New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan says he was as startled as the rest of the world about Pope Benedict XVI's announcement that he will resign later this month due to failing health.
    
Dolan says he feels a special bond with the pope because he was the one that appointed him archbishop of New York.
    
Dolan, speaking on the "Today" show Monday, says he wears the ring and the cross the pope gave him.
    
The pope announced Monday that he would resign Feb. 28 because he's simply too infirm to carry on.
    
Dolan says the conclave to elect to a new pope would do well to look for the kinds of qualities Pope Benedict possessed: knowledge about the world, a theological depth, personal piety and linguistic talent.

 

  • Top Stories from KHQTop Stories

  • Saturday, May 25 2013 6:07 PM EDT2013-05-25 22:07:03 GMT
    SEATTLE (AP) — The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday the bridge collapse in Washington state is a wake-up call for the nation.
    SEATTLE (AP) — The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday the bridge collapse in Washington state is a wake-up call for the nation. "This is a really significant event and we need to learn from it, not just in Washington but around the country," Debbie Hersman said after taking a boat ride on the Skagit River below the dramatic scene where a truck bumped against the steel framework

  • Saturday, May 25 2013 5:10 PM EDT2013-05-25 21:10:27 GMT
    SPOKANE, Wash. - Spokane firefighters responded to a gas line break in north Spokane Saturday afternoon near Lincoln and Nevada.  The actual site of the leak was located at a home just to the west of
    SPOKANE, Wash. - Spokane firefighters responded to a gas line break in north Spokane Saturday afternoon near Lincoln and Nevada. The actual site of the leak was located at a home just to the west of Nevada at N. Dakota and Brownsville Court. Officials say the homeowner was digging and hit a gas line causing the rupture.

  • Saturday, May 25 2013 4:10 PM EDT2013-05-25 20:10:08 GMT
    COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) - A northern Idaho sheriff says he's compelled to drop the department's Boy Scouts of America charter after the organization opened its ranks to gay Scouts.
    COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) - A northern Idaho sheriff says he's compelled to drop the department's Boy Scouts of America charter after the organization opened its ranks to gay Scouts. Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger tells the Coeur d'Alene Press in a story on Saturday that the organization is promoting a lifestyle that's against Idaho law.
    •