[attach id=239917 size="medium"]Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI after appearing for the last time at the balcony of his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, last Thursday. Photo: Reuters[/attach]

In Maltese we have a saying: Għaddej ħajja ta’ Papa (He is leading a Pope’s life), meaning that one is living comfortably, being free of worries, lacking nothing and perhaps doing nothing. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s resignation points to a different type of life. He has seen the papacy as both a blessing and a cross.

In the past, when a Pope used to enter St Peter’s Basilica for the first time after his election, carried shoulder-high on the sedia gestatoria, there used to be one in front of him burning some straw while shouting: sic transit gloria mundi (worldly things are fleeting). A Latinist Pope like Leo XIII might have answered (in his heart gaudeamus igitur! (so, let us rejoice). But was the papacy ever a ‘glory’ to any Pope?

Bishops are encouraged to leave the pastoral care of their diocese at 75. Canon 401(1) of the Code of Canon Law states that diocesan bishops must submit their resignation to the Pope on reaching the age of 75. Benedict XVI is getting old. He is already 85. As Bishop of Rome he has already surpassed that retiring age by 10. He felt his mental and physical health was somehow failing to him. Consequently, resignation was a prudent step for him to take before committing some gross error unwillingly.

Today, people are living longer than before. This longevity is enjoyed also by bishops and popes. So, a papal retiring age is advisable for the benefit of the Pope himself and for the benefit of the Church. This papal retiring age cannot be decided by anyone except by the Pope himself and only for himself. So, for popes, no standard retiring age can be set.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has asked us to pray for him and, in turn, he promised his prayers for the whole Church.