Mgr. Martin tribute to ‘generous’ Pope
Pope Benedict XVI.
The Derry priest set to be the next leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has paid tribute to Pope Benedict XVI who is to resign at the end of this month.
Monsignor Eamon Martin, who was last month appointed as coadjutor (assistant) Archbishop of Armagh, described the Pope’s shock decision as a “conscientious” one.
Pope Benedict’s resignation comes after nearly eight years as the head of the Catholic Church. In his statement, he said he was too old to continue at the age of 85.
The unexpected development - the first papal resignation in nearly 600 years - surprised governments, Vatican-watchers and even his closest aides. The Vatican says it expects a new Pope to be elected before Easter.
Monsignor Martin, currently Administrator of the Derry Diocese, told the ‘Journal’: “Pope Benedict XVI has served the People of God as Pope since his election in April 2005. His service has been one of humility, dedication and generosity, as well as prayerfulness. It is characteristic of his humility that declining strength has led him to his conscientious decision to resign.”
This was a sentiment echoed by former Bishop of Derry, Dr. Edward Daly, who said he was “surprised” by the Pope’s decision.
“I believe that the humility and courage of the decision is typical of the man,” Bishop Daly told the ‘Journal’. “He obviously considered that his age and health made it difficult for him to give his daunting global ministry the energy and attention it required in the future. In those circumstances, it was the correct decision for himself and the Church. He has given generous service to God and his fellow human beings. I wish him God’s blessing in his retirement.”
As thoughts now turn to finding a replacement for the pontiff, Michael Kelly, the Co. Tyrone born editor of the ‘Irish Catholic’ newspaper, said he didn’t think it would be something that would have been given a lot of thought prior to yesterday’s announcement.
“I think probably there might be a push for a younger pope,” he said. “But a health warning with that is that the people who will choose the new pope, and most likely will be the new pope, are the members of the College of Cardinals - who are generally men in their 60s and 70s. So they’re not very young and it will all be relative.
“The other side to that as well is, if you choose a pope who’s very young, he may well want to be pope for 25, 30 years - like John Paul II. Whether or not the cardinals have an appetite for that, I think it’s too soon to say. This is something they won’t have had a great deal of discussion among themselves about because it is very unexpected.”
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Weather for Derry
Saturday 25 May 2013
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