<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="">Benedict XVI says he felt he had a ‘duty’ to resign because of his health</h1>
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<div class="">by <strong><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/author/junno-arocho-esteves/" title="Posts by Junno Arocho Esteves" rel="author">Junno Arocho Esteves</a></strong></div>
<div class="">posted <time datetime="2016-08-25 04:18:47">Thursday, 25 Aug 2016<br><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/08/25/benedict-xvi-says-he-felt-he-had-a-duty-to-resign-because-of-his-health/">http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/08/25/benedict-xvi-says-he-felt-he-had-a-duty-to-resign-because-of-his-health/</a><br></time></div>
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<div class=""><img src="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/content/uploads/2015/05/benedict_this-800x500.jpg" class="" alt="Benedict XVI assisted by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, left, and Archbishop Georg Ganswein, prefect of the papal household (CNS)" height="500" width="800"> <div class="">
Benedict XVI assisted by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of
the Pontifical Council for the Family, left, and Archbishop Georg
Ganswein, prefect of the papal household (CNS) </div>
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<p class=""><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>In a new interview the Pope Emeritus reveals <u>his decision was forced by his inability to travel to Rio</u></b></span></p>
<p>Retired Pope Benedict XVI has said in an interview that <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><u><b>he felt a
“duty” to resign from the papacy because of his declining health and the
rigorous demands of papal travel.</b></u></span></p>
<p>While his heart was set on completing the Year of Faith, the retired
pope told Italian journalist Elio Guerriero that <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>after his visit to
Mexico and Cuba in March 2012, he felt he was “incapable of fulfilling”
the demands of another international trip, especially with World Youth
Day 2013 scheduled for Brazil.</b></span></p>
<p>“With the program set out by John Paul II for these (World Youth)
days, the physical presence of the pope was indispensable,” he told
Guerriero in an interview, which is included in the journalist’s
upcoming biography of Pope Benedict. “This, too, was a circumstance
which made my resignation a duty,” the pope said.</p>
<p>An excerpt of Guerriero’s book, <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>“Servant of God and Humanity: The
Biography of Benedict XVI,” was published Aug. 24 in the Italian
newspaper, La Repubblica.</b></span></p>
<p>Pope Benedict said that although he was moved by the “profound faith”
of the people of Mexico and Cuba, it was during his visit to the two
countries in 2012 that he “experienced very strongly the limits of my
physical endurance.”</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><b>Among the problems with committing to the gruelling schedule of an
international trip was the change in time zones. Upon consulting with
his doctor, he said, it became clear “that I would never be able to take
part in the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro.”</b></span></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>“From that day, I had to decide in a relatively short time the date of my retirement,” he said.</b></span></p>
<p>Guerriero noted that while many believed the pope’s retirement was a
defeat for the church, Pope Benedict continues to seem “calm and
co<b>n</b>fident.” The retired pope said he “completely agreed” with the
journalist’s observation.</p>
<p>“I would have been truly worried if I was not convinced — as I had
said in the beginning of my pontificate — of being a simple and humble
worker in the Lord’s vineyard,” he said.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>The retired pope added that while he was aware of his limitations, he
accepted his election in 2005 “in a spirit of obedience” and that
despite the difficult moments, there were also “many graces.”</b></span></p>
<p>“I realized that everything I had to do I could not do on my own and
so<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> I was almost obliged to put myself in God’s hands, to trust in Jesus
who — while I wrote my book on him — I felt bound to by an old and more
profound friendship,” he said.</b></span></p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>
</b></span><p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>The retired pontiff spends his days in prayer and contemplation while
residing at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in Vatican City. For 19
years, different contemplative orders took turns living in the monastery
with a mission focused on praying for the pope and the church.</b></span></p>
<p>Benedict said that upon learning that the Visitandine nuns would be
leaving the residence, he realized “almost naturally that this would be
the place where I could retire in order to continue in my own way the
service of prayer of which John Paul II had intended for this house.”</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Among the visitors Pope Benedict receives is Pope Francis, who “never
fails to visit me before embarking on a long trip,” he said.</b></span></p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>
</b></span><p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Asked about his personal relationship with his successor, Pope
Benedict said they shared a “wonderfully paternal-fraternal
relationship” and he has been profoundly touched by his “extraordinarily
human availability</b></span>.”</span></p>
<p>“I often receive small gifts, personally written letters” from <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Pope
Francis, </b></span>he said.<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>“The human kindness with which he treats me is a
particular grace of this last phase of my life for which I can only be
grateful. What h e says about being open toward other men and women is
not just words. He puts it into practice with me.”</b></span></p>
<p>Pope Francis, who wrote the book’s preface, expressed his admiration
for the retired pope and said his spiritual bond with his predecessor
“remains particularly profound.”</p>
<p>“In all my meetings with him, I have been able to experience not only
reverence and obedience, but also friendly spiritual closeness, the joy
of praying together, sincere brotherhood, understanding and friendship,
and also his availability for advice,” Pope Francis wrote.</p>
<p>The church’s mission of proclaiming the merciful love of God for the
world, he added, has and continues to be exemplified in the life of Pope
Benedict.</p>
<p>“The whole life of thought and the works of Joseph Ratzinger have
focused on this purpose and — in the same direction, with the help of
God — I strive to continue,” Pope Francis wrote.</p><a style="background-color:rgb(132,132,132);border-radius:0%" class="" tabindex="1"><span class=""></span></a></div></div></div>