When Pope Benedict XVI was announced as the new pope, I was in a restaurant in Fredericksburg running for House of Delegates — and despite all the media’s protestations, I was elated that Ratzinger had been selected.
I couldn’t talk about it then, because when running for public office, musing on the inner workings and theological perspective of the Catholic Church simply isn’t apropos in our advanced modern society. Imagine that.
Pope Benedict XVI’s legacy was understood from the beginning: to complete the mission and pontificate of Pope John Paul II. Benedict XVI’s corpus of writings combined with his Regensburg address in 2006 will remain the lasting legacies of his papacy.
Resigning from something such as the papacy is not something lesser men would do. Benedict XVI is no lesser man — his humility is an amazing example in modern times where pride and vanity seem to be the rule rather than the exception.