Word: messori
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...health, has signed any specific new directives about his own succession. John Paul's stance on the issue, however, is largely seen as signaling a green light on papal retirement that Benedict may very well take into account if his own health begins to deteriorate. Conservative Catholic writer Vittorio Messori, who has co-authored books with both John Paul and Benedict, noted that the "canonical" question of resignation was never in doubt, citing Celeste V's decision to step down in the 13th century. (See the top 10 religion stories...
...Messori explained that if a Pope decided he was no longer capable of leading the church, he would convoke a Consistory of all the world's Cardinals at the Vatican. After they accept his resignation, the Cardinals would elect a successor, and the ex-Pope would "return to the status of simple priest in some hospital or monastery...
...wouldn't this bring the risk of internal conflict, particularly if the former Pope doesn't agree with the decisions his successor makes? "Look, I loved [Karol] Wojtyla," said Messori, referring to the former Pope's baptismal name. "But if he would have decided to resign, I would have continued to pray for him, but I would have obeyed his successor." (See pictures of Pope John Paul II taken by Gianni Giansanti...
...rumor of its publication has stirred intriguing discussion. Queried by the newspaper La Stampa, Vatican historian Monsignor Walter Brandmuller noted that the tractate might shed light on early Christianity even if the text had eventually been found heretical. Vittorio Messori, a layman who has co-written books with Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI (when he was Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger) is more effusive. "Jesus' words about Judas ["It would have been good for that man if he had not been born"] are tough," he told TIME. But "Judas wasn't guilty. He was necessary. Somebody had to betray Jesus...
...there are signs of what might be called a movement against the tyranny of charisma. "The people are voicing their opinion for another figure who can hold the spotlight like Karol Wojtyla," says Vittorio Messori, a church historian who helped focus that spotlight by editing the late Pontiff's best seller Crossing the Threshold of Hope. "But what the church needs now is structure, governance and patient service." That sentiment is echoed by a surprisingly wide cross section of clerics who think that the former Pope's flair for the symbolic gesture sometimes came at the expense of administrative housecleaning...