Benoît XVI

Lorsque Célestin V, après quelques mois de pontificat, abdique le 13 décembre
1294 devant les cardinaux, ceux-ci ne s’en étonnent guère : le pape, ancien
ermite, avait largement démontré qu’il n’était nullement préparé à la charge
d’évêque de Rome. En élisant Benoît XVI, ils pensaient couronner un parcours
exemplaire. Lorsque celui-ci renonce à son tour à sa charge, le 11 février
2013, en pleine liberté et pour le bien de l’Église, il provoque stupeur et
étonnement... Compréhension aussi, car Benoît XVI justifie cette renonciation
par l’amoindrissement de sa vigueur et par son incapacité à assumer au mieux
le ministère qui lui a été confié. Dans sa dernière audience, il ne cache pas
que la barque de l’Église a dû faire face à des « eaux agitées » et à des «
vents contraires ». Paul Christophe examine les réussites et les échecs de ce
pontificat, tout en relevant la complexité d’un homme conscient des réformes à
entreprendre mais trop âgé pour les accompagner. La renonciation à sa charge
est le geste raisonnable et prophétique d’un homme de foi qui ouvre l’avenir.

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On December 13, 1294, after only a few months as pope, Celestine V informed
his cardinals of his decision to abdicate. They were scarcely surprised, since
the pope - a former hermit - had amply demonstrated that he was totally
unsuited to be the Bishop of Rome. When they elected Benedict XVI, it was seen
as the crowning of an exemplary career. So when he also renounced his
position, on February 11, 2013 - of his own free will and for the good of the
Church - the reaction was one of stupor and astonishment… But also
understanding, because Benedict XVI justified this renunciation by citing his
diminishing strength and his inability to assume the ministry to which he had
been entrusted to the maximum. In his final audience, he did not conceal the
fact that the barque of the Church had been rocked by ‘rough seas’ and
‘headwinds’. Paul Christophe examines the successes and failures of this
pontificate, as well as the complexity of a man who was conscious of the
reforms that needed to be undertaken, yet too aged to carry them out. The
renunciation of his post was the intelligent and prophetic act of a man of
faith concerned with the future.