Pope Benedict to resign Feb. 28, says he's too infirm

Pope Benedict XVI announces resignation – as it happened

Pope Benedict XVI to step down
First pope to resign in 600 years


Church law does allow for a pope to resign — if he is of sound mind and not forced out by fear or fraud. Under canon law, if a pope chooses to resign, no one is allowed to tell him he can't.

According to the Vatican, John Paul II had secret letters, in 1989 and in 1994, offering to resign if he were too incapacitated to fulfill his ministry.

Pope Benedict said in Light of the World, a collection of interviews with a German journalist, that a pope should resign if he 'clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically, and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right and, under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.'


But if it is simply a staggering burden to be pope, Benedict said, 'One must stand fast and endure the situation. That is my view. One can resign at a peaceful moment or when one simply cannot go on. But one must not run away from danger and say someone else should do it.'

Pope John Paul II quashed speculation that he might choose to resign as his health deteriorated late in life, saying that if it was God's will that he leave the papacy then God would 'call him home.&.