With his stepping down from the Cathedra of Peter, Benedict XVI has gained an immemorial place in history. While John Paul II said one “should not come down from the Cross”, Pope Ratzinger chose to walk in the footsteps of Pope St Celestino V, who ran away from the papacy back to his hermitage.

The Church, for well over a decade, has lacked a dynamic leader

I had an inkling of this when I was invited for Benedict XVI’s “pilgrimage” to Abruzzo. On the body of Celestino V he not only stopped to meditate but he also took off his pallium to place it on the casket.

“Will he ever follow Celestino,” I asked myself. If he did he had nothing to fear, for there was no Dante to reprimand him like he did to Celestino.

With the renunciation of the papacy, Benedict XVI will now again be just Joseph Ratzinger. He will no longer be “infallibile”, he will be a human mortal, as he reminded the cardinals, bishops, clergy and laity gathere in St Peter’s Square on Ash Wednesday. I am sure he chose this day for his renunciation as a penitential act, reminding us that even the Supreme Pontiff will, like all humans, return to dust.

Though the renunciation was a bolt from the blue, Pope Ratzinger made the decision a long time ago. He took it all alone with the chosen few.

After his strenuous pilgrimage to Cuba and Mexico, we now are told he fell at night. But he has also had enough because of his age, his breathing, and so on. He was not ill, but old age is in itself a sickness.

As so he tells us “after often examining the conscience in front of God, with an advanced age, I could not continue to exercise the ministry of Peter.”

On top of this we are now told that some months ago he had surgery. Why was this kept secret? Why have we never heard of a medical report? Is it true that this pontificate did not excel in communication? There have been many instances of bad communication, so much so that US bishops sent an expert journalist into the Vatican, who also belongs to Opus Dei.

For well over a decade, since John Paul II started his descent into Parkinson’s disease, the Church has lacked a dynamic leader. Benedict was enriched of many good qualities as a gentleman, a priest, a theologian and bishop, but he was not a charismatic leader.

It’s hard to convince ourselves that only old age and health were the motives behind the renunciation. This is the make believe coming from the Vatican mouthpiece, the Jesuit Federico Lombardi. The version coming from Benedict XVI on Ash Wednesday is quite different. Without shame, the Pope spoke of “Chiesa deturpata dalle rivalità” (a Church disfigured by rivalry).

A combination of scandals, personality clashes, mismanagement and rivalries led Pope Benedict to believe that a new leader was needed. An endless series of events led him to believe that only a new Pope, blessed with greater vision of the world and energies, could lead the Church in the global world and also bring about the necessary reforms inside the Vatican, the Church and the people of God. I am moved when I read the words of an aching heart saying he could “serve the Church better by renouncing”.

An endless series of sad circumstances convinced him to believe that only a new Pope, blessed with greater vision and energy, could lead the Church in the global secularised world and have the courage with the bishops to bring about the reforms inside the Vatican, the Church and the People of God.

I am moved by love when the Pope assured us he can serve the Church better by renouncing. This is a noble act of humility, discernment and fruit of his holiness. In this he excels.

The clergy scandals, the investigation linked with money laundering, the crisis within the appointment for the presidency of IOR or Vatican Bank (I am told a Maltese banker nursed this ambition), the lifting of the excommunication of the four schismatic bishops (one of whom denied the Holocaust), the clash with the Muslims after the University lecture in Germany, the case of Arcbishop Carlo Maria Viganò (now shipped out as nuncio to Washington), the delicate removal of some bishops (lately of Trapani, Sicily), the careerism among Vatican monsignors (which he publicly denounced), the step to welcome a new structure for the traditionalist Anglicans (which took by surprise the Archbishop of Canterbury) and so forth. All these are the tip of the iceberg and all a proof of the defective Vatican machine.

However, the most recent scandal and misstep was the one involving the Pope’s butler. “This was a constant drumbeat on the Pope,” wrote Paolo Rodari, in Italy’s Il Foglio.

It hit the Pope right in the core of his own household where he worked and lived. This was more than a theft, but a stab in the back. It was a humiliation for the Pope himself, who I am sure loved and respected this butler’s family.

It put in bad light the Vatican and this is why many within it did not approve of the pardon given by the merciful Pope to Paolo Gabriele, who was only sentenced to 18 months. Only time will uncover this criminal act.

An article by Massimo Franco in Corriere della Sera said Pope Ratzinger was upset and distraught by the so-called “secret report” drawn up by the three elderly Cardinals appointed by the Pope to investigate this criminal act. It seems only the Pope knows the hidden truth and whether there was some hidden scarlet hand behind the butler. It all seems a plot for a Hitchcock film.

Many in the Vatican believe that the cause of all these missteps was that Pope Ratzinger did not have a top diplomatic team to work with him. There was nostalgia for the times of top Vatican diplomats like Card. Agostino Casaroli, Card. Dell’ Acqua, Card. Benelli and Card. Angelo Sodano. The present Secretary of State, the Salesian Card. Tarcisio Bertone, did not come from within the Vatican diplomacy and he often posed himself as if he were a “vice Papa.”

I think the correspondent of the English Catholic weekly The Tablet, Robert Mickens, over simplified when he wrote that “the major problem of this pontificate is his choice of Bertone as Secretary of State, and his insistence in keeping him there”.

Many sought to undermine the role of the Salesian Cardinal, even in the butler’s case, in a nasty power struggle. Many can testify that Card. Bertone has served the Church and his friend Pope Benedict as a true and loyal Secretary of State.

However, all these human frailties do not take the historical limelight off Pope Benedict XVI, who in eight very turbulent years rowed the boat of Peter, for he is leaving a deep imprint on the future Church.

His is a lesson of great courage, as was said by the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano who met him just before and after the events. Above all it is also a sign of great love for the Church, who I am certain he wished to reform, for all those who believe and do not believe.

His great encyclicals and writings will remain for future generations, while in the years of his future hidden life in Nazareth he will continue to pray and be even closer to all mankind.

What he wished to do and did not do for many reasons, he will leave to his worthy successor and the future.

On our part we will continue to love him and tell him “Grazie Santo Padre” for your heroic service to humanity and also your special love for Malta.

Mgr Charles Vella is the founder of the Cana Movement.

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