Catholic pope resigns

[Grimm]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/11/us-pope-confirm-idUSBRE91A0A120130211

"Pope Benedict said on Monday he will resign on Feb 28 because he no longer has the strength to fulfill the duties of his office, becoming the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to take such a step."

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism.

The office will remain vacant until a successor is elected at a conclave in March.

[Rev.Cambeul]

Apparently he watched his predecessor slowly deteriorate until the Catholic Church effectively had no Pope. It's only logical that people learn from the errors of their leaders.

On another related point, I did find it a little confusing to receive a Twitter message from @Pontifex ... until a few seconds later I remembered how Twitter worked and saw that it was from the Pope's brand new - at that time - Twitter account. I do hope that the Catholic Church decides to close down the Pope's Twitter account and frees up the name; it could be useful for Creativity. 

@Cailen.

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/26/world/europe/vatican-benedict-title/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

The Vatican reveals that they will still address the pope as "his holiness", and that his title will change to "pope emeritus, emeritus pope or Roman pontifex emeritus."

They should have come to us. We've been using the title "pontifex emeritus" for over twenty years.