ChatterBank24 mins ago
has any Pope in history, ever been asked to 'step down'?
22 Answers
There are calls for the present Pope to relinquish the papacy due to the child abuse scandal, do you think he hasn't 'managed' very well and should be replaced, I am non catholic but I am interested what your views are on this rather delicate matter.
Bobbi ♥
Bobbi ♥
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Difficult to say but with it being thirty years ago I imagine he had to answer to others back then anyway. A big overhaul into how the catholic church deals with abuse is needed. They need to be seen to be dealing it with openly. Isn't it strange how if a priest fell in love with a woman and had a child with her, or marries her he gets excommunicated but if he abuses children he gets some counselling and looks after parishes with fewer children.
-- answer removed --
Under Vatican rules a Pope could deposed by a Conclave of the College of Cardinals.
However,Popes John XII( 955~964) & Benedict V (964,for one month) were both deposed.This was the time of the 3 Popes,and the Holy Roman Enperor Otto deposed them to get the Papacy back to normal,and backed Leo VIII.
Popes Sylvester III,Benendict IX and Gregory VI,were deposed by a Council of the Church as their elections were considered questionable.
From 1268 to 1271 these was NO Pope at the Cardinals could not make up their minds!
This was repeated 1292~1294.
Poep Celestine abdicated 1n 1296 after being Pope for only two years.
After this the Conclave came into being,as opposed to just a loose discussion on who should be Pope.
1314~1316 no Pope,much good the Conclave was,they still couldn't agree.
1415~1417 the Conclave couldn't agree again,so elected TWO Popes!
So as you can see it was all go in the Papacy early on.
This is a catch 22,because the Conclave can only be convened (by the Papal Chamberlain) on the Death of a Pope,so if the Pope is alive they cannot be convened~ so cannot depose the incumbent Pope.
However,Popes John XII( 955~964) & Benedict V (964,for one month) were both deposed.This was the time of the 3 Popes,and the Holy Roman Enperor Otto deposed them to get the Papacy back to normal,and backed Leo VIII.
Popes Sylvester III,Benendict IX and Gregory VI,were deposed by a Council of the Church as their elections were considered questionable.
From 1268 to 1271 these was NO Pope at the Cardinals could not make up their minds!
This was repeated 1292~1294.
Poep Celestine abdicated 1n 1296 after being Pope for only two years.
After this the Conclave came into being,as opposed to just a loose discussion on who should be Pope.
1314~1316 no Pope,much good the Conclave was,they still couldn't agree.
1415~1417 the Conclave couldn't agree again,so elected TWO Popes!
So as you can see it was all go in the Papacy early on.
This is a catch 22,because the Conclave can only be convened (by the Papal Chamberlain) on the Death of a Pope,so if the Pope is alive they cannot be convened~ so cannot depose the incumbent Pope.
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