Pope Benedict XVI has just announced his decision to abdicate. Born in 1927, he considers himself too frail to stay in his post. At the moment, he is a lame duck. A lame pope, to coin a term. This is a rare situation, for this is the first papal abdication since 1294. Joseph Ratzinger will be long remembered for his decision, but the Christendom will in fact be bereft of the pope until the new one is elected. The interlude is thus an interesting one. It signals a new crisis in the Catholic church, which is already ridden by crises on account of pervasive sexual abuse and other sins of its priests. Will the cardinals electing the pope have the guts to use this historical opportunity to push for major changes in their midst? Will they go for a radical capable of instituting such changes? I very much doubt it. The two-hundred-sixty-sixth pope is almost certain to be just like the bulk of his predecessors: conservative to boot. Therefore, the interlude is to be relished as such. Non habemus papam, hooray! But why am I going on and on about something I could not possibly care about? For crying out loud, I happen to live in Croatia, one of the most Catholic countries on the planet!

Addendum I (February 22, 2013)

Quite by chance, today I spotted an article in one of the leading newspapers in Croatia to the effect that Benedict XVI had most likely abdicated on account of a gargantuan sexual scandal in the Vatican, which had surfaced only recently, several days after his abdication. This was apparently picked up from one of the leading Italian newspapers. I saw only the title of the article in question, but it was staggering all by itself. It blared that sexual shenanigans are taking place even in the middle of the Holy See, of all places! Goodness gracious! Apparently, the poor Croatian souls are completely and totally innocent of its horrendous history over roughly a millennium and a half. Actually, there is no horror that has not been committed by a pope himself, and repeatedly, let alone by his most loyal servants. But history is not for humble Catholics, or so it seems. The good old bible is all they could ever need.

Addendum II (April 21, 2025)

Born on December 17, 1936, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was Pope Francis from March 13, 2013, till today. According to the media, he passed away early this morning. To my own surprise, the pope was quite dear to me. When I searched for his official name on my Residua, I found no fewer than sixteen pieces penned between 2013 and 2016. Wow! One of them spells out our kinship in no uncertain words, as well (“Pope Francis and I,” June 15, 2015). Anyhow, no sooner than I learned about his death, I remembered the Latin words from the title of this piece. “Non habemus papam, non habemus papam,” it started ricocheting through my mind. It did not take me long to discover this particular piece. And I decided to add a few more words to it in a jiffy. Even though I am far from religious, let alone a Christian, I am very much aware of the fact that many a Catholic around the globe is aware that there is no pope as of this date. More important, the question is when the new one will be elected. One way or another it may take quite a while. Non habemus papam, non habemus papam, non habemus papam…