Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has announced his retirement from the position, leaving the papacy at the end of this month.

Joseph Ratzinger became Pope in 2005, and is the first to retire in nearly 600 years. He is only the second pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church to do so voluntarily.

According to former Catholic and now head of ENC's (Evangelism and New Churches) Certainty4Eternity mission, Mark Gilbert, the news has already kicked off a few conversations with Catholic friends.

“I was talking with a Catholic friend this morning about [the Pope’s resignation], and he said that he was surprised because he thought the Pope, Joseph Ratzinger, was anointed ... How can he just stop being pope?”

Joseph Ratzinger, before becoming John Paul II’s successor as pope, held a number of senior positions within the Catholic church. Most significantly, he was Dean of the College of Cardinals, the body whose role it is to elect each successive pope.

He also has a reputation as a scholarly theologian, holding a number of theology professorships in several German universities through the 60s and 70s. Some have characterised him as a reformer within the Catholic church, being influenced by the theology of German Jesuit Karl Rahner, and himself being involved in the Second Vatican Council.

According to Mr Gilbert, some of his writings also seem to show some resonance with more Reformed German theologians.

“I studied some of his work on eschatology when I was at [Moore Theological] College, and my thought was that he was fairly well informed about how Protestants thought, and in a number of areas was quite favourably disposed towards some prominent Protestants.

“It was some of the stuff that he wrote on [Wolfhart] Pannenburg and [Jürgen] Moltmann that I thought he was quite positively disposed to, but when it came down to where they disagreed with more orthodox Catholic teachings, he would choose the Catholic line. “

As such, Mr Gilbert says that, particularly in the secular media, he will be viewed in a different light to his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

“People seem to be using this as a time to assess what Joseph Ratzinger achieved in his papacy, and the secular media tend to say things like ‘He didn’t do what we wanted him to do’.

“I’ve heard second hand some Catholic reporters raise, also, how he dealt with the child sex abuse scandal as well, and questions raised about those matters when he was a Bishop. In contrast to Karol Wojtyła [John Paul II], and his popularist papacy, Ratzinger was very much a German theologian, a reserved man from what I understand, quite rational, where I think Wojtyla was a bit more poetic and creative in his thought and papacy.”

Mr Gilbert says, in talking to Catholics about Benedict’s retirement, he wants to emphasise the Pope’s humanity, and his likely wise appraisal of his own capabilities in his mid eighties.

“I think starting off with the line that it’s good he made that decision. He’s just a man, and it’s a big job for an 85 year old. That’s helpful because it gets at the deification that Catholics can place on their popes, I think, in a helpful way.”

“I’m wondering whether the resignation opens up opportunities to talk to Catholics about individual salvation. He is just a man, he’s recognised his limits as a man, and acted accordingly. In the end, the institution isn’t the be all and end all. What is? Well, it’s our personal response to the gospel. “

Mark Gilbert, as part of his engagement with the Catholic community, has also recently written a book called Stepping Out in Faith, that catalogues the stories of people who have left the Catholic Church and joined other churches. It is published by Matthias Media and will launch in March.

Feature photo: Padmanaba01