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Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Reaction to Pope Benedict’s Announced Resignation
December 2010: LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge (left) and LWF President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan (middle) present Pope Benedict XVI with a gift from Bethlehem depicting the Last Supper. © Servizio Fotografico "L'Osservatore Romano"
GENEVA, 11 February 2013 (LWI) – The Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) has received “with surprise” today the news that Pope Benedict
XVI intends to resign as head of the Roman Catholic Church on 28 February 2013.
A statement by Vatican Radio today said the
pope had announced his intended resignation as his “strengths, due to an
advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine
ministry.”
Speaking to Lutheran World Information (LWI), LWF President Bishop Dr
Munib A. Younan and LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge said they offer
their prayers for the pope and the Catholic Church during this time. They
expressed their deep appreciation for Benedict’s commitment to the search for
the unity of the church and his support to ongoing ecumenical dialogues.
Younan and Junge underlined the 50 years of dialogue between the
LWF and the Vatican as an enriching mutual journey which Pope Benedict has
strongly supported.
They recalled the pontiff’s discussions with LWF leaders during
a private audience at the Vatican in December 2010, at which Pope Benedict
expressed gratitude for “the many significant fruits produced” by decades of
bilateral discussions between Lutherans and Roman Catholics.
DIFFERENT COMMENTS ON POPE RESIGNATION
“On behalf of
Americans everywhere, Michelle and I wish to extend our appreciation and
prayers to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Michelle and I warmly remember our
meeting with the Holy Father in 2009, and I have appreciated our work together
over these last four years. The Church plays a critical role in the
United States and the world, and I wish the best to those who will soon gather
to choose His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s successor.”
– President Obama
“The Holy Father brought the tender heart of a
pastor, the incisive mind of a scholar and the confidence of a soul united with
His God in all he did. His resignation is but another sign of his great care
for the Church. We are sad that he will be resigning but grateful for his eight
years of selfless leadership as successor of St. Peter.”
– Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York,
president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
“We who belong to
other Christian families gladly acknowledge the importance of this witness and
join with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in thanking God for the
inspiration and challenge of Pope Benedict’s ministry.”
– Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
The United States
is grateful to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for his leadership of and
ministry to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. He has been a man of action and
principle, working to promote human rights and dignity in places around the
globe where they are too often denied, and a voice of clarity and conviction
about our obligations as stewards of a fragile planet. As I heard Pope Benedict
say during the Mass he celebrated in Washington nearly five years ago,
Americans remain a people of hope and America a land of freedom and
opportunity.
– Secretary of State John Kerry
“The era of
cover-up and secrecy in the Catholic Church must end. Our greatest hope is that
the newest Pope agrees and becomes a true leader in the spirit and teaching of
the Gospels.Victims of child sexual abuse agree on one thing: they want to
ensure that what happened to them never happens to another child. The only way
for that to happen is for the Cardinals to select a pontiff who puts child
safety and victim healing first, as the teachings of Jesus Christ dictate.”
– Barbara Blain, president of the
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
“Joseph Ratzinger
leaves the papacy having failed to achieve what should have been his job one:
to rectify the incalculable harm done to the hundreds of thousands of children
sexually abused by Catholic priests. He leaves hundreds of culpable bishops in power
and a culture of secrecy intact.”
– Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of
BishopAccountability.org
“The Holy Father’s
resignation is a selfless and noble act done for the good of the church that he
has loved and served for decades.”
– The Rev. James Martin, S.J., Editor
at Large, America Magazine
“Pope Benedict XVI
reconfirmed the official Catholic position that God’s covenant with the Jewish
people at Sinai endures and is irrevocable. He said that the Catholic
Church should not try and convert Jews. There were bumps in the road
during this papacy … but he listened to our concerns and tried to address them,
which shows how close our two communities have become in the last half century,
and how much more work we need to do together to help repair a broken world.”
– Abraham Foxman, national director,
Anti-Defamation League
“I think it’s a
sign of the great humility of this pope and his love of the church, and his
courage to recognize that, as he says in his declaration, that he has come to
the conclusion that he doesn’t have the physical energy any longer to discharge
his duties as pope.That recognition says to me he’s a very humble and honest
person. … We turn our attention now to our prayers for the Holy Father and to
see what the next steps will be.”
– Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop
of Washington
“At this time it is
appropriate for the Church and all people of good faith to reflect on Pope
Benedict’s legacy and achievements. He brought unique capabilities to the
papacy as a highly qualified scholar and teacher, and as Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in service to Blessed John Paul
II. His fidelity to maintaining the truth and clarity of the Catholic
faith, to cultivating ecumenical and interfaith dialogue and in reaching out to
inspire the next generation of Catholics have been great gifts to us all.”
– Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop
of Boston
‘‘If the pope
himself has now, after thorough consideration, come to the conclusion that he
no longer has sufficient strength to exercise his office, that earns my very
highest respect. In our time of ever-lengthening life, many people will be able
to understand how the pope as well has to deal with the burdens of aging.”
– Angela Merkel, German Chancellor.
Reported by Associated Press.
“The pope is not
any man. He is the vicar of Christ. He should stay on to the end, go ahead and
bear his cross to the end. This is a huge sign of world destabilization that
will weaken the Church.”
– Alessandra Mussolini, Italian
politician and granddaughter of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Reported by
Reuters.
“With Pope Benedict
XVI’s shocking resignation this morning, evangelical Christians might be
tempted to see this the way a college football fan might view the departure of
his rival team’s head coach. But the global stakes are much, much higher. As
Pope Benedict steps down, I think it’s important for us to recognize the legacy
of the last two bishops of Rome that we ought to honor and conserve: an
emphasis on human dignity.”
– Russell D. Moore, dean of the
School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Throughout his
career, Benedict XVI has conferred upon the church the great gift of his
theological wisdom, in a special way deepening our understanding of Catholic
education and the role of the Catholic educator. He has been a public figure of
considerable importance, reminding the world of the inviolable dignity of the
human person, and the call of the Gospel to charity.”
– John Garvey, president of The
Catholic University of America
“Pope Benedict XVI
has served the Catholic Church during a time of significant challenge. He is a
highly respected, traditional and conservative theologian. As the Prefect
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, his assistance with guiding
the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was a major contribution
for Lutherans and Catholics.”
– The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding
bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
“While Pope
Benedict’s resignation is certainly unexpected, it is yet one more sign of the
strong leadership he has exhibited throughout his papacy. It takes a particular
kind of wisdom to know when to step down and a wonderful humility to do so.”
– Father Terence Henry, TOR,
president of Franciscan University of Steubenville
“The Church feels
today a special need to thank Benedict XVI for his rich and fruitful
magisterium, and also for his humble and generous example of service to the
Church and the world. In this singular moment in the Church’s history, the
faithful of the Prelature — priests and laity — are praying for Benedict XVI
and all his intentions. And united to the Pope and the entire Church, we are
asking the Holy Spirit to pour out his grace in abundance on the people of God
and its pastors.”
– Bishop Javier Echevarria, prelate
of Opus Dei
“Pope
Benedict XVI has exemplified moral courage and an unwavering commitment to the
Gospel message during his nearly eight-year tenure as Holy Father of the Roman
Catholic Church. He has been a steadying influence who has shown leadership at
a critical time in the Church’s history. As he announces his retirement, we
honor him for his lifelong service to the Lord and his inestimable intellectual
contribution to Christian orthodoxy. We also pray for the Cardinals as they
begin deliberations to choose his successor. As encroaching secularism, radical
Islam, and evil in all its forms threaten Western civilization, this is a
momentous time in the history of the Church. Whether Catholic or Protestant, we
join in praying for the triumph of our faith and the glory of our Lord.”
– Ralph Reed, chairman, Faith
& Freedom Coalition
“We offer the American Muslim community’s best wishes to Pope
Benedict XVI as he leaves his position as head of the Roman Catholic Church. …
We look forward to continued and growing positive interfaith relations under
the new pontiff as Muslims in the United States and worldwide join with people
of all faiths and cultures who seek to make a better world.”
– Nihad Awad, national executive
director of Council on American-Islamic Relations
“I have found the
Pontiff to be warm and authentic in our conversations and meetings. In
addition, I appreciate his courage of ideas, even when they did not resonate
with contemporary attitudes. I was especially moved by his boldness in warning
us of the dangers of moral relativism and the tyranny of self-centered
ideologies.”
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