Should the pope gove up his title because of his health problems? I need your answers for an article I have to write for school. I would like to have YOUR oppinion, don't say no because the pope himself sais no. I need argumentation to. Please help me. Thank you. Sara Everaarts, Arnhem, the Netherlands?

-- Sara Everaarts (lunatjuh@hotmail.com), November 12, 2003

Answers

Jmj

No, Sara. The pope should not resign because of his current health problems.

Those who work most closely with him assure us that his mind is still very sharp. It is only some parts of his body that are impaired by his various illnesses.

He is still able to think clearly, to write, and to make decisions.

I believe that a major reason that he would not consider resigning (as long as his mind remains sharp) is that he wants the whole world to see that people of his age and condition can still contribute to society and should not be cast aside like a worn-out shoe. This is a pro-life action on his part.

By the way ... just yesterday, I saw a link at www.drudgereport.com [temporarily down now] that seemed to be saying that former Polish president Lech Walesa is reporting that the pope's health has improved greatly in the last month. I tried to use that link to go to the whole story, but it would not work. I think that the Vatican was saying, last month, that the pope would soon undergo dialysis (perhaps for the first time ever) to cleanse his body of strong chemicals that may have been accumulating from his many years of treatments. Perhaps this dialysis has helped the pope greatly. We shall see.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), November 12, 2003.

Hi Sara

Society measures people by their usefullness, ability to be productive and to articulate. I am not surprised that the media and many others propose the resignation of the Pope due to health problems.

We believe, as Catholics, that the Church and the Papacy is supported, guided and influenced by the Holy Spirit. For me this is the key point that the world does not recognise. If we believe in the presence of the Holy Spirit then it is not a point of trauma or debate. We simply have faith that John Paul II is still with us as Pope because our God in heaven wills it. I find great consolation in this. I look at our frail Pope (in body) in his unfailing love and commitment to his flock, in the way he carries on travelling and having audiences etc... He does this even though he is in great pain, he is an example of how to follow Christ in this world. The world would like to dismiss him as incapable and finished - for me it is now that he is having the greatest impact on the world in his suffering, he is an example to us all.

-- Franc (francois.de-fleuriot@unilever.com), November 13, 2003.

Sara,

As the Pope would say, "You cannot resign fatherhood." Just because one is old and probably dying does not mean that one is no longer a member of society. Here in the US we have this horrible problem of putting our old people into "retirement" homes and then we forget about them. But we have so much to learn from these old people. They are very wise but no one likes to listen to the old. We seem to think that once one has reached a certain age the opions of that person no longer matter because they are "out dated." These are the opinions that are most vital though because the old and especially the Pope are "the voice crying out in the desert." The Pope is calling us to change our lives but the media and others just seem to think that this is extranious babel from a person that no longer is needed.

You could maybe think of the Pope's health like that of Steven Hawking. Steven Hawking cannot use any part of his body because the signals from his brain don't get to the rest of his body. But he is still a brilliant physicist. The mind can live without the body, but the body cannot live without the mind.

And no I am not equating Steven Hawking with the Pope.

-- Scott (papasquat10@hotmail.com), November 13, 2003.